Faux Pas? product reviews

This book is a logophile's delight. Another book filled with words from another language, and unlike The Meaning of Tingo, Faux Pas includes all the foreign words that actually are used in the English language.

Ever wondered where 'et al' came from? Ever wondered how to pronounce 'Bons-mots'? Want to know the meaning of 'Cordon bleu'? or how to spell 'Schadenfreud'? If the answer to any of those questions is an emphatic 'YES', then this book is a must, no - a MUST, for you.

Each word or phrase in the book comes with a handy phonetic pronunciation guide, an explanation, an example of use and most useful of all, a pretentiousness rating. Most of the words have a nil rating because they are used frequently in everyday language, but a few have the '!!!' pretentiousness rating because, well, they are excruciatingly pretentious!

A number of the words have have a nil and '!' or '!!' rating depending on its use and these are well worth paying attention to, because sooner or later you will see the pretentiousness of language creeping into daily useage.

I'm already a fan of this book, and can see this book making its way onto the book shelves of journalists; given time, I can see this book being updated regularly and soon becoming a world standard, and oft copied book, along the lines of Roget's Thesaurus, Fowlers Usage, and Brewer's Phrase and Fable.

Anyone who has an interest in words will love this book.

Oh, and the most pretentious words with a !!! rating?

'Moi' obviously. Says it all really. 'Au Contraire' naturally enough just begged to be included and everyone would agree. And the others? Well, have a look for yourself. You will not regret it.