Hotcockles and Twittletwattle

Have you ever lent a bedpresser (a heavy lazy fellow) a muckender (handkerchief)? Or felt your mind skimbleskamble (wander) in the company of an abecedarian (one who teaches the alphabet)?

With the publication of all 2,300 pages of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary in 1755, the English language irrevocably changed. Suddenly words were standardised: listed with fixed grammar, spelling, and neat applications. But hidden inside these two colossal volumes is a smaller, forgotten dictionary of words that have since fallen out of vogue. From the hilarious to the arcane, Liz Drury has compiled the best words from Johnson’s dictionary that have (justly or unjustly) been forgotten.

Inspired by the British Library’s first edition of Johnson’s dictionary, this playful and engaging lexicon in the perfect gift for any wordsmith looking to play the Dictionary Game or simply expand their vocabulary with a touch of Enlightenment.