(no subject)

With my tendency to read books only on the subway these days, it's unusual that I finish a book within two weeks of my acquisition of it. But that's what happened yesterday with one of my Christmas presents, namely The Superior Person's Third Book of Well-Bred Words by Peter Bowler.

A bit of background: I first read The Superior Person's Book of Words in seventh grade. The 500-entry readable dictionary was amusing enough that I read the whole thing more than once (except for the foreword, which I read only the second time) and continued to look back from time to time. I even made a point to memorize Bowler's example of an abecedarian insult, including its translation:

( It is wordy )

You might say it became part of my identity. Nevertheless, neither I nor anyone else in my family was aware of a sequel until my sister found this threequel at the store.

Alas, this one wasn't half as much fun for me. I can think of several potential reasons:

( Cut for length )

There's still some redeeming value, to be sure. I appreciate the inclusion of some disambiguations and interesting trivia. Some words are downright poetic. And yes, some entries are funny, especially when sentences combine "superior" words ("Excuse me, miss; I've just burnt my fingers on my wife's zarf -- could I possibly have a vulnerary unguent?"). I even thought of a new use for one phrase: "Lust, Caution isn't bad, but what's missing is the copulative conjunction." (The last two words are a formal name for the conjunction "and.")

But it doesn't leave me hungry for more.