Zounds! By Mark Dunn

Unlike some books that are limited in use to those who glory in linguistic histories or philological distinctions,Zounds: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections (with cartoon commentary be Sergio Aragonés) is a fun and informative read for any person who speaks the English language. Dunn takes a quirky and enjoyable look at the world of interjections, or “Linguistic fringe” as he says in his introduction. After a very brief (think five short pages) classification, the real fun starts. In alphabetical order, there are several hundred entries, each often including multiple interjections and similar phrases. Each entry may tell a history, mention a famous use of the introduction, or give comical sample sentences. Often the entries do all three. Here is one of the shorter entries:

havoc!
From the Middle English word havok, itself derived from Anglo-Norman, this was the command given to barbarians to begin their pillaging. (My guess is it would be delivered to the various companies of ravagers, looters, and despoilers by their chief plunder officer). This same sense of the word is retained in the contemporary phrase cry havoc.

Other words have a more convoluted history or different uses, and they normally get longer entries with more stories and comparative sentences. Mark Dunn pulls in everything from the movie Clueless to ancient Scottish war cries. I found it interesting to see the development and meaning of interjections that I frequently use, and the definitions were on occasion eye-opening. Well, this following entry wasn’t eye-opening, but it will give a good idea of how such words are managed (and, I have to admit, the story is really funny).

shit
The first of the seven dirty words comedian George Carlin told us couldn’t be said on the airwaves without inviting the wrath of the FCC, shit has been used by nearly all of us at one time or another, sometimes involuntarily (at least that’s what we tell people. This exclamation of dismay, anger, vexation, disgust, or all of the above has been with us for quite some time. There is a famous story about writer chums Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain challenging each other to a contest to see who could write the most off-color story. Kipling began his effort with “‘Shit!’ said the Queen.” Somehow Queen Victoria learned of the contest and of Kipling’s entry. Many believe this is why the nationally heralded Bristish writer was never knighted or made poet laureate.

Hopefully the above entry does not offend, but simply gives you an idea of how such words are handled (and shit is probably the worst cuss word in there, excepting variations of words like gadzooks and zounds, which are technically considered “less bad” uses of taking God’s name in vain.

Still, with that warning, the majority of the entries are inoffensive to begin with, and they make this book a useful tool for someone who wants to expand their vocabulary for extreme situations beyond rats!, or anyone who is dying to know the history of the phrase twenty-three skidoo. In documenting interjections, Mark Dunn has provided us with a funny—make that hilarious—and oh-so-useful collection. Abbysinia!