An ordinary day, newly named.
The Horologicon
A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language
A day becomes a way of finding words. Forsyth moves from waking toward bedtime, gathering unusual vocabulary around familiar activities. Read it beside your own routines: the pleasure lies in discovering that a feeling or small habit you thought unnamed has a linguistic companion.
Begin reading
01 / A place to begin
A spoiler-light introduction.
Let the hours become an index.
A day becomes a way of finding words. Forsyth moves from waking toward bedtime, gathering unusual vocabulary around familiar activities. Read it beside your own routines: the pleasure lies in discovering that a feeling or small habit you thought unnamed has a linguistic companion.
Published in 2012 after The Etymologicon, this book organizes lexical curiosities by the hours and activities of an imagined day. Forsyth's own account explains the arrangement through commuting, work, meals and bedtime. Its premise invites selective browsing as well as a continuous reading.
Treat a pleasing word history as an invitation to investigate. Historical, regional and usage labels matter when comparing dictionary evidence.
Sources: Original publisher — The Horologicon · U.S. publisher — The Horologicon · Author — The Horologicon
Reader note
Treat a pleasing word history as an invitation to investigate. Historical, regional and usage labels matter when comparing dictionary evidence.
- First publication
- 2012
- Form
- Popular nonfiction about unusual and historical vocabulary
- Original language
- English
- Publication note
- First published in 2012. The original publisher record gives 2012-11-01.
02 / Ways of looking
Choose a reading lens.
Three original prompts. Pick the question you want to carry into the book.
Your reading prompt
Hours
Read at the corresponding moment.
Let a section accompany the part of your day it describes. What becomes easier to notice?
Usage
Ask whose vocabulary it is.
For an unfamiliar word, look for dated examples, regional setting and usage labels. Unfamiliar to you need not mean unused everywhere.
Naming
Notice an unnamed routine.
Write about a small activity in your own language. Where does an unusual word clarify it, and where would it make conversation harder?
03 / The copy desk
Find an edition. Follow a word.
Edition routes lead to outside sellers and libraries; online word-study resources below complement the book and do not provide its full text. They determine stock, prices, condition, eligibility, and waits. Routes and bibliographic details checked .
All 5 reading routes shown.
Berkley U.S. paperback
Paperback
A U.S. paperback to carry and read alongside the activities of your day.
- Publisher
- Berkley
- ISBN
- 9780425264379
- Edition date
- 2013-10-01
- Pages
- 304
- Extra material
- Additional introductions, notes or supplementary material have not been established for this edition. Textual differences from other editions have not been established.
Exact selected paperback ISBN 9780425264379. Check the external provider’s regional and format terms.
Exact print ISBN search. Check seller condition, binding and delivery terms.
NLB catalog record for separate Icon ebook ISBN 9781848314306; not the U.S. print ISBN. An eligible card and participating-library licence are required; availability and holds vary.
Icon original hardback
Hardback
Choose the original hardback for keeping beside a desk and returning to during the day.
- Publisher
- Icon Books
- ISBN
- 9781848314153
- Edition date
- 2012-11-01
- Pages
- 272
- Extra material
- Additional introductions, notes or supplementary material have not been established for this edition. Textual differences from other editions have not been established.
Exact selected hardback ISBN 9781848314153. Check the external provider’s regional and format terms.
Exact print ISBN search. Check seller condition, binding and delivery terms.
Separate Icon ebook ISBN 9781848314306; not this hardback. An eligible card and participating-library licence are required; availability and holds vary.
Author context
Forsyth explains the daily arrangement
Author's explanation of the structure and U.S. edition.
Read at the source. Public access does not grant republication rights; this is a companion resource, not the complete book.
Reading sourceRelated word-study resource
Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Free historical Scots dictionaries with source quotations; useful for investigating Scots vocabulary.
Read at the source. Public access does not grant republication rights; this is a companion resource, not the complete book.
Reading sourceRelated word-study resource
Merriam-Webster: reading etymologies
How dictionary entries mark language sources, reconstructed forms and unknown origins.
Read at the source. Public access does not grant republication rights; this is a companion resource, not the complete book.
Reading sourceModern copyrighted work. Purchase authorized copies or borrow through licensed libraries; no free full-text route was verified. No book text or cover is hosted here.
04 / Alongside the book
Keep a thread.
01 / Read with the clock
Read with the clock
Let the imagined day accompany your own. What becomes noticeable when a familiar routine gains an unfamiliar word? Read a section near the corresponding part of your day. Choose a word that changes how you notice an activity. At bedtime, compare the book's sequence with your own.
02 / Investigate one word
Investigate one word
Follow one word into a dictionary record. What do dated examples, regional setting and usage labels add? Record the word and its context. Consult a relevant dictionary rather than guessing from appearance. Keep historical evidence separate from a proposed present-day use.
03 / Make an ordinary-day lexicon
Make an ordinary-day lexicon
What parts of your day feel precisely named, and which resist naming? Write a short account of a day in your own vocabulary. Notice activities or feelings for which you wanted a more precise word. Compare with a friend's list and discuss what a useful word must communicate.
05 / After reading
Let the questions stay.
Optional deeper reading. The panels below may discuss later events or the ending. They begin closed so you can choose when to continue.
Deeper themes · possible spoilersLook beneath the surface.
Original PointCast interpretations and prompts, rather than the author’s stated meaning. Open after reading if you want to preserve the discovery.
A day as an index
What does arrangement by time and activity reveal that an alphabetical list would hide?
Naming the ordinary
Which overlooked routine became more interesting when you found a word for it?
Lost to whom?
How might a word unfamiliar to one reader belong to another community's living vocabulary?
Reading group · discussion spoilersBring it into conversation.
These questions concern the whole work. Return to the edition you are reading for examples and compare passages rather than page numbers.
- What would you want to know about a word's history before bringing it into conversation?
- When does an unusual word clarify an experience, and when might it hinder communication?
- Whose daily life would produce a very different vocabulary tour from your own?
06 / The next door
Nearby readings.
Sources / Follow the evidence
The reading is personal.
The references are inspectable.
A companion with its sources.
Original publisher
Original publisher — The Horologicon
Exact subtitle and first publication date; Selected hardback ISBN, format, pages and retailer choices.
U.S. publisher
U.S. publisher — The Horologicon
Selected Berkley paperback ISBN, date, format and pages; Daily-vocabulary premise and purchase route.
Author
Author — The Horologicon
Organization by hours and activities; U.S. publication context.
Library licensed digital catalog
Library licensed digital catalog — The Horologicon
Separate Icon ebook ISBN, release date and formats.
Library licensed digital catalog
Library licensed digital catalog — The Horologicon
Audiobook narrator, unabridged designation, ISBN and release metadata.
Historical dictionary publisher
Historical dictionary publisher — The Horologicon
Historical Scots dictionary scope and free consultation.
Bookseller marketplace
Bookseller marketplace — The Horologicon
Exact U.S. paperback ISBN used search.
Bookseller marketplace
Bookseller marketplace — The Horologicon
Exact Icon hardback ISBN used search.
Primary companion resource
Merriam-Webster: reading etymologies
How dictionary entries mark language sources, reconstructed forms and unknown origins.
Introductions, reading lenses, pathways, and discussion prompts are original editorial copy. No book text is reproduced on this page.
The artwork was generated as an original editorial atmosphere. It is not an official cover, archival evidence, an author’s artwork, or a publisher endorsement.