Symons - There are Tittles in this Title

By the same author: NUMBERLAND First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Michael OMara Books Limited
9 Lion Yard
Tremadoc Road
London SW4 7NQ Copyright Michael OMara Books Limited 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-1-78243-257-9 in hardback print format ISBN: 978-1-78243-271-5 in e-book format Cover design by Claire Cater
Illustrations by Andrew Pinder Designed and typeset by K. DESIGN, Winscombe, Somerset www.mombooks.com To Penny With love and thanks for
thirty wonderful years

I had so much fun compiling Numberland , a book devoted to number-related trivia, that I decided to do the same for words. I wanted to call it Wordworld , (a bit of) a pun on Numberland , but my publisher, Louise Dixon, suggested There Are Tittles in This Title .

Once she explained to me what a tittle was (a dot above the i), I was all for it. The truth is, even after some sixty-odd books (the books werent odd well, not ALL of them but the figure is approximate and therefore odd), Im useless at titles except for other peoples books where Im surprisingly inventive. Just cant do it for myself. So much for the title. The book itself was pure joy to compile. Among the many things I learned, my absolute favourite was an obsolete English word scurryfunge which means a hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbour and the time she knocks on the door.

Whats not to like? I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Now for some acknowledgements: Id like to thank my wonderful publisher Louise Dixon, with whom Ive worked for some twenty years without ever having a cross word (which must be some kind of record). My editor, Gabriella Nemeth, has done a fine job of turning the sows ear I sent her into the silk purse you have before you. My thanks also to Emily Banyard for her amazing PR work. A big word of praise too for the illustrator, Andrew Pinder, and the designers, Claire Cater and Kay Hayden. In addition, Id also like to thank the following people for their help, contributions and/or support: Gilly Adams, Jenny Garrison, Nicholas Ridge, Charlie Symons, Jack Symons, Louise Symons, Penny Symons, David Thomas, Martin Townsend, Clair Woodward and Rob Woolley.

Mitchell Symons 2014

Adelaster: meaning unknown star in Greek, this is the name given to newly discovered plants awaiting classification by botanists Aglet: the plastic covering on the end of a shoelace Aphthongs: silent letters in words such as know and psychology Armsate: the hole in a shirt or a jumper through which you put your hand and arm Bonnet: the cap on a fire hydrant Brannock device: the metal instrument used in shoe shops to measure feet Brassard: a band worn around the arm Buccula: a persons double chin Chanking: food thats spat out Columella: the bottom part of the nose that separates the nostrils Contrail: the thin line of cloud that forms behind an aircraft at high altitudes Diastema: a gap between the front teeth Drupelets: the bumps on raspberries Epithalamium: a poem written to celebrate a wedding Eyes: the holes in Swiss cheese Ferrule: the metal band on the top of a pencil that holds the eraser in place F-hole: the S-shaped opening in a violin Fillip: the technical term for snapping your fingers Gambrinous: the state of being full of beer Griffonage: illegible handwriting Gruntle: a pigs snout Harp: the metal hoop a lampshade sits on IDEO locator: the you are here arrow on a map Jiffy: 1/100th of a second Keeper: the loop on a belt that holds the end in place after it has passed through the buckle Lalochezia: the use of swearing to relieve stress or pain Lemniscate: the infinity symbol Lunt: a puff of smoke, such as that produced when someone smokes a pipe Lunula: the white tip of the finger and toenail (because the end of the nail is rounded like the moon) Minimus: the little finger or toe Next page