Dictionary of the Strange, Epic, and Beautiful: The Big Book of Cool Words

Dictionary of the Strange, Epic, and Beautiful: The Big Book of Cool Words

Dictionary of the Strange, Epic, and Beautiful is a compilation of three previous dictionaries: Dictionary of the Strange, Curious, and Lovely ; - Epic English Words ; and - Dictionary of the Rare, Creative, and Beautiful Part dictionary and part carefully curated encyclopedia, this book offers a window into the breadth and depth of human experience and imagination, showcasing words with unique histories and meaning, or beauty of sound or appearance; other words are esoteric and deep – or strange and fascinating. Some categories of words, names, and terms are: Placenames ( Pillars of Hercules, Arabia Felix, Doon Edin, Mare Tenebrosum & Riphean Mountains ); - Z oology ( quill pig , pink fairy armadillo & frantling ); - Astronomy ( Eddington luminosity , Venusian , Silurian hypothesis , Jovian trojans & Kreutz sungrazers ); - Geopolitics ( Perfidious Albion & Baltoscandia ); - History ( Sahelian kingdoms, sunlit uplands & Groom of the Stool ); - Geometry ( Penrose stairs & Villarceau circles ); - Anatomy ( brain sand & frenulum ); - Archeology ( Oldenburg Horn & Nebra sky disc ). Plus nautical , poetic , and literary terms like: brave west winds & naufragous ; person from Porlock & the cavalier poets ; the Lost Generation & Erewhonian . Also select slang words, such as: tactical chunder , snoutfair , molly wop , ghostshipping & grundle . And interesting phrases like: bring owls to Athens ; et in Arcadia ego ; happy as a box of birds; dolce far niente ; and up the wooden hills to Bedfordshire .