Conjobble the Potboiler

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette, and today we have book recommendations and more for the word lovers on your gift list.

One book I want to recommend is A New Murder Mystery by British etymologist Susie Dent. It’s called Guilty by Definition, and it takes place in Oxford, England. And it involves a lexicographer named Martha, who’s working on a dictionary that sounds an awful lot like the Oxford English Dictionary.

Now, Susie Dent writes from experience because she’s worked there as a lexicographer herself. And she has lots of fun describing the lives of dictionary editors who go, as she puts it, truffling after old words, unwrapping new ones.

Now, as you might guess, Martha and her fellow dictionary editors soon find themselves doing a different kind of sleuthing, that is, trying to unravel a murder mystery that’s gone unsolved for years.

Now, this book is an enjoyable romp, and it includes a lot of words that you might not have come across before, like the word conjabble. Do you know this word, Grant? Conjabble?

Conjabble. Does that mean work together towards a goal?

Well, it has to do with doing something together. It was a verb that was used in the 17th and 18th century, meaning to eat, drink, and talk. Or as Susie Dent puts it, to have a good natter with someone over a bite to eat.

A natter. That’s one of my favorite words for a conversation.

Well, join us for a natter. It’s toll-free. Call or text 877-929-9673 or email words@waywordradio.org.

Or find lots more ways to reach us on our website at waywordradio.org.