Angels, Barbarians, and Nincompoops

Its hard not to love this book, which employs a diverse cast of characters ranging from C. S. Lewis and Emily Dickinson to Lily Munster and the Great Pumpkin to reveal the historical, hilarious, and even holy origins of the words we use, even though many of us have forgotten what they mean. Join Professor Esolen on this fun yet educational romp through 98 of your soon-to-be-favorite words.*;Learn how and why (to say nothing of when and where) to properly use the word ;drunken.; (Hint: not to relay the fact that ;The bridegrooms mother has drunken a whole bottle of champagne, and is now drawing flowers on the floor with her lipstick.;)*;Appreciate why you dont want Lily Munster to dust your furniture at least not in the Kings English.*;And seethe, along with Esolen and other lovers of beauty in language and liturgy, when you see how a mighty angel of God is reduced to the status of a mere messenger boy through bad word choices.Again and again, youll find yourself agreeing with Esolen, who, channeling his inner Boris Badunov (Bullwinkle the Mooses nemesis, for the philistines and milennials among you), reminds us that ;Eees good to know grammar. Eees delight, to play with style. Eees, no?;Yes, it is! And it also edifying to see just how rooted our language is in the Christian faith, as rooted as once was our culture.Esolens delightful tour of the English language and its roots gives us a window into our shared heritage that sadly weve largely forgotten. We wont tell you what the word referenced in the first sentence above is but dont be it. Buy this book. Youll be glad you did.