CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
I'm not generally the kind of writer who reads dictionaries cover to cover. But I couldn't put this one down. This dictionary reminds you that not only is language a living, changing, entity -- it's also creative and powerful and personal. Just a few pages of this book will encourage you to lighten up and bravely approach your own prose.
Thank you, Gordon — your review made our day!
Collecting as it does hundreds and hundreds of all-vowel and all-consonant words from literature, Webster's Dictionary of Improbable Wordsis a word gamer's secret weapon. Pioneering lexicographer Noah Webster published his first Compendious Dictionary of the English Language in 1806. He spent decade after decade expanding his dictionary to make it more comprehensive. Webster's Dictionary of Improbable Words is a testament to the great wordsmith’s dedication.