Diarmaid Ó Muirithe’s column Words We Use has been a feature of The Irish Times over many years and has formed a critically acclaimed book of the same name. Now Words We Don’t Use (much anymore) is a highly entertaining compendium of words which are either on the brink of extinction or have already been deemed obsolete by the great dictionaries.
Ó Muirithe’s gentle and witty style reveals his vast knowledge and scholarship in an accessible way. Inside you will find words such as manable, meaning a girl of marriageable age, and adamite, a person who appears nude in public, among many others that you might want to casually drop into your everyday conversation!
Words We Don’t Use is a wordsmith’s delight.
“As entertaining as his book is, it has an element of the hospital about it, featuring as it does row upon row words in different stages of unwellness. Some, like discombobulate, have every chance of making a recovery. Others, like kenspeckle, are probably beyond the reach of medicine”. Frank McNally, Irish Times.
“Ó Muirithe...has nailed it again with his charming, witty and informative...rattlebag”. Donal O’Donoghue, RTE Guide.
“ a treasure trove of a book of over 300 pages”. John Arnold, Evening Echo.
Here is a compendium of archaic words, or words that have almost completely fallen out of use or have changed their meanings. Diarmaid Ó Muirithe brings his customary air of erudition lightly worn, presenting his vast knowledge, with gentle wit.
