I received a free copy of, A Winter Dictionary, by Paul Anthony Jones, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is a dictionary of winter words, most I have never heard of before like: foxing day, feefle, shawm, and barflog. This is an interesting read, I learned a lot of new words.

Wow!! Because this book's title says "dictionary", I intended to read it as such. A reference book to hop around, cherry pick, and leaf through seeing what catches the eye.

But that changed immediately! This book is so absolutely fascinating that I read it as a regular book, from start to finish.

Includes:
- stories behind the word
- time frames... when "ish" the word "began"
- similar phrases it was derived from
- countries where the word began

This is one of the most unique, well-done, fascinating things I've ever read. I never buy hard books anymore, but I sincerely am not just saying this, I intend to buy a physical copy of this book to keep. And it would be an amazing gift as well!


FAVES:
- Stepmother's breath: a sudden cold snap [1765]
- Blue o'clock: the early hours of the morning, color of the sky awakening [1909]
- gluggavedur: weather that looks nice from indoors, but you would not want to be outside in. Originated in Iceland from "window weather"

A Winter Dictionary is a delight from start to finish.

In a world where spoken language is evolving but doesn’t often show a richness and variety then this book will certainly add a new dimension to your winters communications.

Whether you are a lexiphile or a logophile or have a general love of language then you will certainly enjoy this seasonal dictionary ..maybe you are a chimonophile (someone who enjoys wintery weather): or enjoy the cotlight ( the warm light seen inside a house on a winter’s night ) and enjoy the warmth and coziness of a fireside - peiskos.

Exploring the vocabulary of different periods of time and history and from different counties and cultures, Paul Anthony Jones has compiled an excellent dictionary - a book to dip into or just enjoy step by step and perfectly divided into seasonal sections of relevance.

A brilliant gift or a book to just savour on your own and then share your discoveries

As winter approaches I hope we don’t get a sudden stepmother’s breath that is highly twanking or I will have to slappety pouch myself 😊

This is a lovely and fascinating well-researched dictionary of winter words. If you're a linguist you'll find it delightful and if you're a writer you'll be marking certain words for the future and you'll be imagining how you could possibly use them. The only thing I want now is follow ups for the other three seasons!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I can easily envision this sitting on my own reference shelf.

Talk about the opening lines drawing the reader in; this book certainly did this for me. I immediately felt like I was waking up on a cold winter’s day taking my dog out for a walk. This is very well done indeed Mr Jones. Upon reading the introduction it became abundantly clear that like popular slang used amongst teenagers I am not familiar with the vernacular of winter. Naturally my curiosity was piqued instantly.

As an avid reader and graduate of language studies, I knew right away that this book is right up my alley. Little did I know though how wonderfully it was composed. This dictionary manages to create a narrative hidden within the well-structured and organised pages. There is a lot of whimsy fused into the pages of this collection of words; a whimsy that transports the language enthusiast straight into the darker and more magical time of the year.

However, the words also include scientific, religious and rather contemporary words based on profound human needs such as the inability to go to sleep. In fact, reading this dictionary might just explain some of the typical emotions and sensations felt during the winter months and in turn makes the reader feel less alone and isolated. So, in a way, this dictionary can even be seen as a self-help book ;).

One of my favourite elements is the inclusion of poetry/literature to put the word into context. I love all words that could be found in a poem or a medieval verse. Some of my favourites are: akering-time, darkle, sniveler, frost hag, clinkerbell (NOT clinkerballs), feefle, flother, punder, stepmother’s breath, snerdle, mufflements (how cute is this word?), maggle… gosh I could just keep listing my new discoveries here as these words transport me into the English countryside or a fairytale at an instant.

This book was both informative and cozy. The first section, “Changing Seasons” introduced me to many new terms and ideas. The terms addressed in this book felt new and unique, but described ideas and situations many of us have experienced in the past. This book helped deepen my love and understanding of the winter season. I definitely feel like a winter expert now. This book is exactly what it says it is, a dictionary of every winter term imaginable.