The author bio page mentions that “James Lipton is an author, playwright, lyricist, director, choreographer and producer.” First published in 1968, my edition (1993), this book is a result of his efforts and obsession of over two decades. The book lists and showcases terms of venery (hunting). Or nouns of multitude. Or words that describe a group. Most of the terms originated as hunting terms and eventually, over time, coinage of new terms to represent a collection of items in other fields too. What we call collective nouns, or group nouns. Perhaps quite familiar with some of them, but many are quite outlandish to the modern ear. The book tries to list these terms exhaustively (hence the ultimate edition) or to the extent possible they can be collected in one place, with some very beautiful illustrations.
This is not a book to be read cover to cover, but to be dipped in for the pleasures of language. For browsing and exploring. If reading itself is a long, wide road, this book is a very interesting detour or sidebar with delightful, shiny presents of beautiful words packed rich with context and history strewn around everywhere.
As the author mentions, these terms can be divided in broadly six categories (although he refrains from doing so through the book), those six categories being (1) Onomatopoeia (e.g., a murmuration of starlings), (2) Characteristic (e.g., a leap of leopards), (3) Appearance (e.g., a knot of toads), (4) Habitats (e.g., a shoal of bass), (5) Comment (e.g., a richness of martens) and interestingly, (6) Error (e.g., school of fish, which was originally meant as shoal of fish).
The introductory essay at the beginning of the book was one of the most interesting reads for me so far in this new year. It deals with the story of how the book came about. And how English language itself has been so open and pliable, absorbing words from other languages and cultures. In the opening paragraph, the author fittingly quotes Arthur Conan Doyle's Sir John Buttesthorn (Sir Nigel) talking about the importance of the "terms of the craft, lest you should make some blunder at table" referring to hunting which was the key pursuit of the landed and the rich, and in which craft these terms originated. They got supplemented over time with more terms, as English language itself expanded and mushroomed with other influences. Here's the author summarizing the expansion of the English language:
"And with each new wave of traders or invaders came new semantic blood, new ideas and new ways of expressing them. The narrow, languid brook of the Celtic tongue suddenly acquires a powerful tributary as the splendid geometry of the Latin language burst into it, bringing such lofty sounds and concepts as intellect, fortune, philosophy, education, victory, gratitude. From 449 on, the blunt, intensely expressive monosyllables of the Anglo-Saxons joined the swelling stream, giving us the names of the strong, central elements of our lives: God, earth, sun, sea, win, lose, live, love and die. Then, in the eleventh century, with the Norman Conquest, a great warm gush of French sonorities - emotion, pity, peace, devotion, romance - swelled the torrent to a flood-tide that burst its banks, spreading out in broad, loamy deltas black with the rich silt of WORDS."
The essay eventually becomes a call to action. For precision. For the right word for the right thing. A sort of defence of using the right word, rather than trying to replace it with a simpler word or something that can be understood by the common denominator. There is an argument to be made in favor of effective communication and common denominator, but there is beauty and an inherent pleasure in finding the right and precise word, and poetry too, when a lot can be packed in a few perfect words and phrases.
On a related note, precision in language is what Joseph Brodsky advised as well for in his commencement address at University of Michigan in 1988. He said:
" Now and in the time to be, I think it will pay for you to zero in on being precise with your language. Try to build and treat your vocabulary the way you are to treat your checking account. Pay every attention to it and try to increase your earnings. The purpose here is not to boost your bedroom eloquence or your professional success — although those, too, can be consequences — nor is it to turn you into parlor sophisticates. The purpose is to enable you to articulate yourselves as fully and precisely as possible; in a word, the purpose is your balance. For the accumulation of things not spelled out, not properly articulated, may result in neurosis. On a daily basis, a lot is happening to one’s psyche; the mode of one’s expression, however, often remains the same. Articulation lags behind experience."
The rest of the address is worth a re-read anytime I believe. And more so in current times. It can be found in his essay collection, On Grief and Reason (Speech at the Stadium). Or on the internet, here.
I find this study of words, and roots fascinating. I haven’t done much of it in the past. But looking at the history of words, seeing how they have traveled, and where they have eventually reached is interesting. History of words can be proxy for history of cultures and civilizations as well.
I am fluent in just two languages (Hindi and English), and both these languages in their own way carry a lot of influence and history. The way schools teach Latin in the Western world, people in India grow up learning Sanskrit, and its grammar. With Sanskrit, I am familiar, not fluent. Familiar enough that I can guess or figure out which words in Hindi are derived from Sanskrit and which ones from Urdu, and which from other European languages. Isn't it fascinating? This history of a people reflected through assimilation in its language. Each such loaded word can be a glimpse into history - a moment of pause and wonder.
Poetry, and poetic phrases is another such source of pleasing phrases and combination of words. Poets have a much sharper sense of words and there imagery than prose writers. They use packed, high RoI, high impact words. Few words loaded with rich meaning. (I have Leonard Cohen playing in the background as I am writing this, encountered after a while. And a lot of rediscovered poetry is dissolving in the air around me).
I am enjoying these reads - the joy of discovery, and where it is taking me. And I am also collecting a lot of new words. It is an engaging pursuit, this collecting of words. Writing them down, speaking them aloud. Trying to make them my own. This hunting of words to tame them. A pursuit worthy of a term of venery itself.
I am enjoying these reads - the joy of discovery, and where it is taking me. And I am also collecting a lot of new words. It is an engaging pursuit, this collecting of words. Writing them down, speaking them aloud. Trying to make them my own. This hunting of words to tame them. A pursuit worthy of a term of venery itself.