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Christopher Foyle

Foyle's Philavery: a Treasury of Unusual Words Hardcover – 27 July 2007

by Christopher Foyle (Author)

4.7 97 ratings

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The word philavery was invented to describe this book: a collection of words chosen simply on the grounds of their aesthetic appeal. Some of these words appeal because of their aptness, some for their obscurity, some for their euphony, and some for their quirkiness. As a collection, they represent the fruits of a lifetime of reading and will delight all word lovers.

ISBN-10

0550103295
ISBN-13

978-0550103291
Edition

Reprint
Publisher

Chambers
Publication date

27 July 2007
Language

English
Dimensions

13.97 x 2.54 x 20.96 cm
Print length

240 pages
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Susie Dent
2,611
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Christopher Foyle
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Product description

Review

I happen to be one of those people who love these kinds of books, though unfortunately they frequently get lost in the mélange of frippery that is located around the checkout counter at better bookstores. Anyway, Foyle, who happens to own such a bookstore in London, has collected a fair-sized book's worth of odd and distinctive words, his favourite of which is "kakistocracy, a system of government where the rulers are the least competent, least qualified or most unprincipled citizens"--a word we ought to use more frequently. (The Morning News Book Digest)

I have found many surprises in the Philavery - I didn't know that alopecia literally means fox mange! (Roddy Lumsden's Blog, www.booksfromscotland.com)

Book Description

A treasury of unusual words

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chambers; Reprint edition (27 July 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0550103295
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0550103291
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.54 x 20.96 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 139,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 50 in Slang & Idiom Dictionaries
- 84 in Language References

Customer reviews:
4.7 97 ratings

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4.7 out of 5

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Holmleas

For the logophile in your life

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 27 March 2013

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Philavery, noun: a collection of unusual words chosen for their aesthetic appeal. And that's exactly what you get with this book. It's a collection of unexpected and little known words that will please and delight you, the ideal gift for people who used to like 'Call my Bluff' or the outrageous definitions of 'Meaning of Liff'. Scrabble fans will especially find lots to salivate over!

Aside from the fascinating content, it's also a beautifully produced book with a lovely William Morris-esque front and decent quality paper within the covers (increasingly a rarity these days). My only tiny quibble is that some of the words it lists are a little quotidian.

Overall - it will make an ideal gift for the logophile in your life :o)

One person found this helpful

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Iain S. Palin

A logophile’s delight

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 11 April 2014

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This is a collection unusual words, all of them genuine, most of them not in common use but asking to be dropped into a conversation or e-mail. Readers will know some of them, but not too many I suspect. Flipping through it I discovered, for instance, that I am a ruptuary (though not a rube) and am also – appropriately enough – somewhat palinoiac. The Philavery is a “loo book”, one that you dip into when you have a minute or two rather than try to read cover to cover. It’s fascinating and it’s fun.

One person found this helpful

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Ralph Blumenau

A delight

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 6 November 2007

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This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

12 people found this helpful

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Wings

Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 2 October 2020

Fab item thanks

A Fascinating Treasury

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 January 2016

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A fascinating treasury of unusual and defunct words. I am not sure which of them would be accepted in a game of Scrabble but the pleasure is in simply enjoying them, like a bouquet of beautiful flowers!

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Samuraimama

Great little book full of quirky words

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 22 March 2018

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Great little book full of quirky words. I've had great fun reading through it and entertaining friends with obscure definitions.

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Emma

Great for new words!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 14 February 2018

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An excellent little book for anyone with a love of vocabulary - or anyone who wants to learn new words!

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E. L. Wisty

A bit too much of a Scrabble list

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 August 2011

Verified Purchase

I love unusual words, and this (and its follow up Foyle's Further Philavery ) is the kind of book I would expect to love. However it falls short of that for me. Some of the words are not really that unusual and an educated person would probably know, but the much bigger issue for me is that I would like to see more words which you might have a finite chance of actually using in a lifetime, rather than simply words you might only ever have a chance of using in a game of Scrabble. Examples: piki - a bread made from maize meal by the Hopi Indians of the South Western USA; galliard - a lively dance in triple time for couples, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Funnily enough, Foyle says in his introduction that his mother-in-law coined the word "philavery" whilst the two of them were playing Scrabble, which is perhaps a bit of a giveaway.

I far more enjoyed the witty Superior Person's Book of Words series of books to these.

3 people found this helpful

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Foyle's Philavery: a Treasury of Unusual Words Hardcover – 27 July 2007

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