Carnal Knowledge

A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia

By: Charles Hodgson

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Paperback | 7 August 2007

At a Glance

Paperback
260 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.96 x 13.97 x 1.91

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From head to toe to breast to behind Carnal Knowledge is a delightfully intoxicating tour of the words we use to describe our bodies. Did you know: -eye is one of the oldest written words in the English language? -callipygian means "having beautiful buttocks"? -gam, a slang word for "leg" comes from the French word jambe?

A treat for anyone who gets a kick out of words, Carnal Knowledge is also the perfect gift for anyone interested in the human body and the many (many, many) ways it's been described.

"Delight your friends (or lose them rapidly) with this fabulous new knowledge presented with deftness and wit". ---Lynn Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves and Talk to the Hand

"Master etymologist Charles Hodgson offers a passionate lesson...illuminates how just about every part of the amazing human chassis got its name" ---Richard Lederer, author of Word Wizard

"A near-perfect body of work that will not only entertain your brain but tickle your funny bone, too." ---Erin McKean, editor in chief, The New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd ed.)

"More than a list of anatomical words and their meanings, Hodgson's book fleshes out the meaning behind the words. This is a blood-and-guts encyclopedia, not some bone-dry dictionary"... Even misologists (haters of knowledge) will find pleasure in Carnal Knowledge". ---Robert Hartwell Fiske, author of The Dictionary of Disagreeable English, Deluxe Edition

"And you thought you knew your own body! A captivating trove of facts and history that will amuse and fascinate". --- Jane Farrow, Wanted Words, CBC Radio

About the Author

Charles Hodgson is an engineer by training and a logophile (word lover) by habit. He produces a daily blog and podcast for word lovers.

Industry Reviews

"Like the tiny submarine in the 1966 film classic "Fantastic Voyage," Charles Hodgson's "Carnal" "Knowledge" takes us on a strange and wonderful tour through the human body. Here, though, the vessel is language itself: the body of words that we use to describe the various lobes, appendages, organs, and squishy things that we are made out of. Until I read "Carnal Knowledge," I had no idea that my gnathion and menton were one and the same, that dandruff used to be called furfur, or that the first recipient of a cornea transplant was an antelope. Always witty, and ever informative, "Carnal Knowledge" puts the fun back in fundament!"
--Mark Morton, Author of "Cupboard Love" and "The Lover's Tongue"
"For over two years Charles Hodgson has wittily dissected the English language on "Podictionary." Now "Podictionary"'s voice comes to print in "Carnal Knowledge." This book is a must for anyone who speaks--or has a body."
--Dave Shepherd, producer and co-host of the podcast "The Word Nerds"

"BODY LANGUAGE: It's bold to give a word book the lip-smacking title "Carnal Knowledge," and indeed, Charles Hodgson's new book is more accurately described by its subtitle: "A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia."

But there is ample pleasure, if not titillation, in the lexicographer's approach to human anatomy. In 1300, for instance, blink wasn't "to close an eyelid" but "flinch" or "escape" -- "the sense blink still has when we say that a soldier or cop doesn't blink when facing danger." Wisdom teeth have roots in Rome's dentes sapientiae. The leading edge of your nose is the dorsum, or "back."

Not that Hodgson ignores the naughty bits. Between the infraclavicular fossa and the jugular notch is jugs, 20th-century slang with a past that may involve a milk pitcher. Tail and tush get their historical due. But their tales don't always top the ones about meldrop (think runny nose), calf (think pregnant cow), or Senator Ambrose Burnside's gift to the

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