This is a beautiful collection of words long forgotten that relate to winter. Each word gets a brief definition and placing in time and geographical area, then goes more fully into the meaning of the word and how it was used. There are some beautiful old words that it would be lovely to see back in use (‘filipendulous’ means hanging by a thread; ‘huckmuck’ for frustration at things being out of place; ‘darkle’ meaning to become gradually darker, so the nights drawing in). Each word is really brought out by the author to give it life and provide a glimpse of the life and times of those who used them. Since the words are about winter, there’s a really cosy feel to it too – this would be a beautiful Christmas present for anyone with an interest in words.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

A Winter Dictionary: A Collection of Words for the Festive Season by Paul Anthony Jones is a delightful book to dip into and would make a perfect gift for anyone who loves words and language.

"A Winter Dictionary" offers a fascinating dive into the overlooked vocabulary of the coldest season. This unique book explores a variety of underused words, from those embodying winter events to technical terms describing autumn's changing leaves. The author's careful curation transforms our perception of winter, revealing the subtle beauty in a season often seen as dreary and dull. Through its rich lexicon, the book paints a vivid picture of winter's linguistic landscape, inviting readers to rediscover the nuances of this misunderstood time of year. It's a must-read for language enthusiasts and anyone seeking to deepen their appreciation of winter's distinctive charms.

I was asked to review this interesting book for NetGalley.

This would make a really interesting book for Christmas 2024.

This is a really fascinating book that I will keep on the coffee table this Festive period as I learn new words and phrases relating to winter.

I love english, history and this I was really transported in the bleak midwinter.

Truly inspiring loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

I'm interested in trivia and linguistics, and as a lover of the winter and Christmas period, A Winter Dictionary seemed like a perfect book to pick up. The structure of the book was generally different from what I expected, but it wasn't necessarily in a bad way and the main content of the book - namely the festive words - fully lived up to my expectations.

For the structure, the book groups the words together thematically. We start at the end of autumn where the cold starts to creep into the cosy season and from there move on through the different stages of the end of the year all the way through to the budding of spring. Some of the words provided aren't strictly speaking winter or Christmas related or even festive, but in the context given, they're definitely all suitable words.

Most of the words are of English origin including various dialects, but there are also a handful of words from other languages. Personally, I would have loved even more words from other languages but it's also perfectly fair enough that this book's focus was on English. The book does also go into quite a bit of detail behind the word origins and often gives examples of how the word or phrase can be used.

There were a few lines and paragraphs where the spacing between words was missing - it was hard to tell whether these were editing mistakes or just something that went wrong with the ebook format. If the former, it would be great to get this fixed. On an entirely personal preference note, I think this would be such a lovely book to have illustrations or decorated pages. I have similar books on other subjects and they often come with illustrations that suit the mood of the words provided. This book is perfectly fine and informative the way it is - had there been illustrations, it would have given it a nice aesthetic bonus to lift it up further.

Here are a few examples of some of my favourite words and phrases found within this book:

Stepmother's Breath - a sudden cold snap
Chimonophile - a lover of wintry weather
Snape - to nip or bite with cold
Dutch Feast - a party at which the host gets drunk before their guests
Greenout - the feeling of gladness or relief that a person who has endured the winter experiences on seeing something fresh and green for the first time

What a fun way to while away a long winter’s evening, learning about the origins of the words we use to describe winter, and even more fun, many archaic terms or phrases that have fallen out of use.

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.