After the publication and success of that offering, Tom spent a year (with the ever-amusing and insightful illustrator Ian Morris)
visiting schools, book fairs and festivals across the U.K. At these events children offered their favourite words. “We were taught by every child we met,” adds Tom. “We learned what tickled them, what moved them.”

The result is a fine new volume full of surprises, ostensibly aimed at 8-12 year-olds but in
reality a joy to anyone of any age interested in etymology – words, their usage and their
antecedents. For each letter of the alphabet Tom picks out four words – a star word and three
others. So the star word for ‘A’ is Astronaut (a “star sailor”) followed by Alphabet, Ammonia
and Arachnid.

Along the way to ‘Z’ a reader learns all sorts of surprising things. Under Utopia, to give one
example, we discover that Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) invented the idea of utopia in his
book of the same name and that the word derives from the Greek for ‘ou’ for not and ‘topos’
for place – thus, an unobtainable dream. Also under ‘U’ is ukelele – “a jumping flea” in
Hawaiian.

We gather that the choice word of father Crispin Read Wilson (who “devoured books” and
taught English at the College) is Titfer. Purists might argue that this is not a word since it
appears in few dictionaries and would cause an argument in a game of Scrabble. No matter –
titfer appears, and for those who don’t know is a short Cockney-coined word for “tit for tat.”
Another personal revelation is made under the word rugby where Tom discloses that he was
“a fast but reluctant winger” at the College who was usually demoted to “hander-outer of
mid-match oranges” at half-times.

Some notable words, even for a precocious 12-year-old, are highlighted – Juxtaposition;
Palindrome; Xylospongium; Kaleidoscope; Euphonium. These are balanced by short words
such as Vim – “a selfish inclusion based on the Latin word Vis, or power and strength…On
good days I like to enhance activities with a ladleful of vim and pep;” Low, Loaf, Jomo and
even X which is defined as a word on the grounds that it denotes the number ten in Roman
numerals.

If I have a personal favourite, it would be Spoonerism. Under this entry we learn that it is a
speech error dating back to one William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930) – “an eminent cleric
and clon (who) was also a funny word-pruner: flipping the fronts hey thad on.” Not content
with that droll poetic opener, Tom in the same entry goes on to discuss eponyms – for
example, bloomers named after women’s rights campaigner Ameila Bloomer (1818-1894), an
American postal worker “who sported this comfy, practical garment while riding a bicycle to
deliver the mail.”

Reviews on Amazon to date have been flattering and very positive ranging from
‘Captivating’ to ‘Wonderful’ and ‘A Real Find’ and an 84% 5-star rating. Tom Read Wilson,
a notable-round entertainer, actor and singer on stage and television and the ultimate
polymath, has another hit on his hands.

ROBIN KNIGHT (1956-61)