A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions

by Mark Forsyth

Overview

BY THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A SHORT HISTORY OF DRUNKENNESS

Discover the unpredictable origins and etymologies of our Christmas customs this festive season.

For something that happens every year of our lives, we really don't know much about Christmas.

We don't know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas, etymologically speaking, means "Go away, Christ". We're oblivious to the fact that the advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown. And we would never have guessed that the invention of crackers was merely a way of popularising sweet wrappers.

Luckily, like a gift from Santa himself, Mark Forsyth is here to unwrap this fundamentally funny gallimaufry of traditions and oddities, making it all finally make sense - in his wonderfully entertaining wordy way.

'Witty and revelatory. Blooming brilliant' Raymond Briggs

'Everything we ever thought about Christmas is wrong! Great stuff' Matthew Parris

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780241977552
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	11/03/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Born in London in 1977, Mark Forsyth (a.k.a The Inky Fool) was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. His book The Etymologicon was a Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and his TED Talk 'What's a snollygoster?' has had more than half a million views. He has also written a specially commissioned essay 'The Unknown Unknown' for Independent Booksellers Week and the introduction for the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary. He lives in London with his dictionaries, and blogs at blog.inkyfool.com.

Editorial Reviews

[The Etymologicon is] a perfect bit of stocking filler for the bookish member of the family, or just a cracking all-year-round-read. Highly recommended.

EBOOK COMMENTARY

"Witty and revelatory. Blooming brilliant." —Raymond Briggs


"Everything we ever thought about Christmas is wrong! Great stuff." —Matthew Parris


"Mark imparts knowledge about Christmas traditions from the essential to the (very) abstruse in wry and sardonic style. An effortless and enjoyable way to learn more about this fulcrum of our calendar." —Paul Smiddy, Former Head of pan-European retail research, HSBC


"Rather strangely for a book about Christmas, I could read this all year round. Lyrical and full of joy, it will definitely be in stockings round our house this December." —Bryony Gordon, author, The Wrong Knickers


"Mark Forsyth wears his considerable knowledge lightly. He also writes beautifully." —Guardian on The Elements of Eloquence



"With his casual elegance and melodious voice, Mark Forsyth has an anachronistic charm totally at odds with the 21st century." —Sunday Times South Africa on The Horologicon



"This year's must-have stocking filler . . . the essential addition to the library in the smallest room is Mark Forsyth's The Etymologicon." —Guardian on The Etymologicon



"[The Etymologicon is] a perfect bit of stocking filler for the bookish member of the family, or just a cracking all-year-round-read. Highly recommended." —Spectator on The Etymologicon

From the Publisher