YOU TALK FUNNY

tristn:

tomewing:

One of my favourite books. If I were ever forced away from the internet I would certainly pack the Dictionary to remind me of it.

Flaubert wrote a dictionary of cliches? I love it, especially the “always” rules:

• ACHILLES Add ‘fleet-footed’: people will think you’ve read Homer.
• BATTLE Always ‘bloody’. There are always two sets of victors: those who won and those who lost.
• CONGRATULATIONS Always ‘hearty’, ‘sincere’, etc.
• THICKET Always ‘dark and impenetrable’.
• TRAVELLER Always ‘dauntless’.
• UNLEASH Applied to dogs and evil passions.

Also:

• COMFORT Important modern discovery.

Ooh and there’s a thematic/categorical ordering of the dictionary here. More fun.