Review: The Whatchamacallit by Danny Danziger and Mark McCrum

Subtitled Those Everyday Objects You Just Can't Name (and Things You Think You Know About, but Don't), this is one of those books filled with the useless but fascinating information that so intrigue me. Simply leafing through the table of contents, I tested my knowledge of the topics covered. Despite the subtitle, those I knew about, I really did know (aglets, contrails, andirons, dewclaw, pediddle, umlaut, and others). But there were enough that I didn't know to keep me dipping into the dictionarty like entries. Did I commit everything to memory? Nope. So I can go back and dip into this book over and over again until these little tidbits of knowledge take up permanent residence in the ole gray matter. Some of the entries are more complete than others but they are all enough to make you a better Balderdash or Dictionary Dabble player. Other word people and those with an interest in the obsure will enjoy this little book as I did.