The Foolish Dictionary
Charles Wayland Towne
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
"The Foolish Dictionary" was written by "Gideon Wurdz" (the pen name for Charles Wayland Towne) and was published in 1904. According to the beginning of the book, it is "An exhausting work of reference to un-certain English words, their origin, meaning, legitimate and illegitimate use..."
This a a short but amusing dictionary which "redefines" words in some interesting ways. Funny and sometimes bizarre observations are sprinkled throughout. In keeping with LibriVox policy to read, rather than attempt to rewrite, books - even those with offensive content - nothing has been omitted. While many of the definitions may just seem confusing or "corny" to modern readers, there are a couple that also might be considered "objectionable," particularly in section 10, which contains offensive content of a racial nature.
Summary by Maddie (1 hr 45 min)
Chapters
| Preface and Letter A | 6:52 | Read by Maddie |
| Letter B | 6:30 | Read by Alex Buie |
| Letter C | 5:02 | Read by Alex Patterson |
| Letter D | 4:28 | Read by Alex Patterson |
| Letter E | 3:48 | Read by donnie |
| Letter F and G | 7:37 | Read by donnie |
| Letter H | 6:40 | Read by Nikolle Doolin |
| Letter I and J | 6:48 | Read by Christiane Levesque |
| Letter K and L | 8:06 | Read by Catharine Eastman |
| Letter M and N | 6:58 | Read by J.C. |
| Letter O and P | 8:19 | Read by J.C. |
| Letter Q and R | 5:35 | Read by featherheadfop |
| Letter S | 4:32 | Read by featherheadfop |
| Letter T | 3:12 | Read by J.C. |
| Letter U - Z | 6:10 | Read by J.C. |
| Postage and Postal Information | 3:00 | Read by Kristin Hughes (1974-2021) |
| A Few Mythological and Classical Names | 6:06 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
| Legal and Local Holidays in the United States | 5:44 | Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) |
Reviews
Elf
Luckily, there are enough clever laughs, in this book, to allow one to ignore the sexist and racist bits.