blurbs at Bill Casselman's Canadian Word of the Day

“Bill Casselman is one of Canada ’s foremost lexicographers and word hounds. In addition to a career as a broadcaster and producer for CBC, he is the author of eight books on Canadian language.”

Jennifer Maclennan, Inside Language: A Canadian Language Reader. Prentice Hall Allyn and Bacon Canada , 2002.

“Casselman is a refreshing antidote to the dreary word cops and tired language pedants. He is funny, relaxed, and wonderfully entertaining.”

Michael Enright, host, CBC Radio’s “The Sunday Edition”

“Bill Casselman, whose many books on Canadian words make him the go-to guy on such matters.”

Warren Clements, “Word Play” column, Globe & Mail, June 11, 2005

“For a full appreciation of how and why Canadians came by their unique linguistic heritage, there can be no better guide than Bill Casselman.”

Moira Farr, Equinox magazine

“Bill Casselman, Bluenose among schooners on the sea of popular etymology, moors his mighty vessel, nets a-teeming with Canadian words.”

Indigo Bookstores Internet Review

“I have all of Bill Casselman’s brilliant, funny word books, and I’m planning to get to them soon.”

Ken Finkleman, creator of CBC TV’s Newsroom and More Tears

“Bill Casselman is the world's greatest Canadian word expert."

Craig Marlatt at Canadainfo

http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/literature/casselman.html

“Bill, I bought Canadian Sayings because, when I glanced through it in Coles, I found myself standing in a bookstore aisle with tears of laughter running down my face.”

Elizabeth Creith, Thessalon, Ontario 2004

RAVE REVIEW from the Montréal newspaper Le Devoir

C’est la vie! - Aussi Canadienne qu’une vache folle

Comment devenir Canadienne en chantant Bye bye, mon cow-boy

Josée Blanchette
Le Devoir Édition du vendredi 28 janvier 2005

Acheté : le livre d’expressions canadiennes Canadian Sayings 3, de Bill Casselman. J’ai raté les nos 1 et 2, j’imagine qu’ils sont encore meilleurs. Plus d’une vingtaine d’expressions colorées sur le mariage, plus de 200 sur la masturbation... les hivers sont encore plus longs que le mariage ! Tiens, en voici une à ressortir quand il fait janvier sous zéro : «Tits up and smiling at the moon.» Pour rester dans le thème de la frigidité : «She’s an ice cube with a hole in it.» Et pour illustrer la stupidité : «He’s skating on the wrong surface of the ice», ou encore : «She’s taking a surfing vacation in Saskatchewan .» Mon ex, the one and only anglo, disait : «Do bears shit in the woods ?» pour répondre à une évidence. Ils gagnent à être connus.

"Bill Casselman is a veteran writer, editor and broadcaster who says of himself, "the curriculum of my vitae zigzags in a most uncool pattern." Whatever pattern he's zigged in, he's managed to pick up a story or two along the way, and he's collected the best aphorisms in the country in the new, third edition of his book, Canadian Sayings 3."

Fanny Kiefer, Studio 4, Shaw Cable, B.C.

Dear Mr. Casselman:

Only yesterday did I discover Volume 3 in your marvelous series of national verbal folklore, and only last night did I finish reading Canadian Sayings 3.

Thanks for giving me, and countless other Canadians, good laughs with your compilations...

Yours aye,
The Rev. Jeffrey F. Loach, B.A., M.Div., D.Min.

Senior Pastor, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Windsor, Ontario
Clerk, The Presbytery of Essex-Kent, Presbyterian Church in Canada
Director, Doctor of Ministry Program, Canterbury College, University of Windsor

December 19, 2005

Bill, keep up the great work you are doing in collecting a wonderful lexicon of what makes us Canadian, how we communicate with each other. It is a very unique part of our culture and deserves celebration.

Glenn Lario, Parksville, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

February 2006

Dear Bill,

I loved your essay on Mozart’s name! It was learned—as usual—and funny and fascinating. I had just finished reading Jane Glover’s biography of Mozart, Mozart’s Women so Mozart was much on my mind. Given what one gathers about the extraordinary mix in his character I think the mix in the names is highly appropriate. Thanks for including the glorious Chagall poster! [ made to advertise a production of The Magic Flute – author’s addendum ]

A.J. Mallinson

February 2006

Great website!! Officially in my “favorites” list now. I, for one, very much enjoyed your “controversial” quote from Nicolas de Chamfort. Here’s one of his I ran across recently: “A man should swallow a toad every morning to be sure of not meeting with anything more revolting in the day ahead.”

Cliff Flanders

April 23, 2007

“I do not possess the preternatural nimbleness you seem to have with words... I completely empathize with your love of them and have rarely found anyone with even close to the same degree of appreciation.”

Tracey in an email

May 20, 2007

“Bill Casselman…fascinating website on books and words”

Brian Sibley , BBC broadcaster, author of the bestseller Shadowlands, about C.S. Lewis ‘ love affair with Joy D.

December 6, 2007

An excellent article on the term wog at Bill Casselman’s Wording Room.

Comment by Sarah W Dec 12. 2007

That Bill Casselman site is the best link ever.

January 2008

“Bill Casselman is one of the country’s leading etymologists and word hounds, as is shown by his numerous books on Canadian language, including the celebrated Canadian Sayings. . .”

Jennifer MacLennan in Readings for Technical Communication , Oxford University Press, 2008

March 2008

“… the amazing Bill Casselman, proprietor of an excellent collection of Canadian esoterica, and a funny guy, to boot.”

from blogmeister Andy 3000

Nov 26, 2008

Posted on her blog by Hope: “For an enjoyable, in depth history of the word farce by famous etymologist, Bill Casselman, visit FARCE.”

January 23, 2009

Dear Mr. Casselman:

I happened upon your website for the first time today -- I read your article and the response to it about the name Medvedev. I am so impressed with your wit, humor and obvious intelligence that I can't wait to take advantage of all the information/articles contained on your site.

I love WORDS. I have not studied etymology but I love to read about the origins of words and language. I think that all of the
connections you make reveal so much about all of us and the ancient and contemporary connections we share.

I have recently begun doing some research on genealogy and knowing the origins of names/words is such a big part of understanding the materials that you find. Your website is so informative that it might keep me from doing my ancestry searches!

Thank you so much for your wonderful site.

Sincerely,

D. W.

March 15, 2009 - - - The Meaning of Mozart's Surname

Your webpage on "Mozart" onomatology. Hilarious and informative. It's nice to encounter an intellectual’s writings on the web.

David Lappa

from "under the Southern Cross" in Australia, January 26, 2009

Bill -

Thanks for the Australia Day good wishes! It's also called Invasion Day by the indigenous Australians - not a happy day for them.

The article on the Chinese New Year and words was very interesting and the Chinese illustrations are beautiful. I also love that hibiscus tea pot - what a work of art!

You do a great website, Bill.

Sending sunshine!

S.L.B.

March 27, 2009

Hi Bill,

I'm writing a book about geophagy, and I came across your handy explanation of the etymology of George. I'd like to cite you, but prefer to cite a book over a website. Can you tell me which book you discussed that in?

Very cool website.

Thanks, Sera

Sera Young, MA PhD

Assistant Researcher

Department of Pediatrics

University of California , Davis

Visiting Fellow

Division of Nutritional Sciences

Cornell University

Oct 1, 2009

A pleasant blurb from northern Nebraska, on the blog of Cre8tive Cowgirl:

"Today I busted out the tuque. It is cold and windy and totally worthy of the phrase “Attache ta tuque!” which means get ready for action, according to Bill Casselman. As I typed the words it dawned on me that I should spell check the word. I’m not Canadian ya know, so I did a quick search to find the proper spelling. What I found was this very cool website page. Casselman provides a wonderful explanation and background for this new favorite item of mine!"

October, 2009

Praise for my etymology column on the C word, praise from a woman — O Traitorous Wench! I can just hear feminists screaming.

Too bad. Nyah-nyah. At http://twitter.com/moritherapy

a lady writes: “an absolutely lovely treatise on the word ‘cunt.’

Thank you, mademoiselle!

To read about the absolutely fascinating history of this powerful word cunt, click here.

Nov. 15, 2010

On Twitter, Doug O'Neill, a happy buyer of my new Dobdob book, writes, "Even funnier flipping through it a second time around."

Thanks, Doug!

Jan. 3, 2011

“Mr Casselman,
I wanted to write to thank you for your thoroughly enjoyable [new] book. By background, I am a technologist practicing the somewhat arcane crafts of Information Security.”

David Gamey, Canada

Mr. Gamey refers to Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik. For a free 7-page sample of my book, click on the title.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Dear Mr. Casselman,
A search for the origins of an improbable-looking word, paraprosdokian, led me to the first piece of your prose I have had the pleasure of reading, "The Bogus Word Paraprosdokian & Lazy Con Artists of Academe." I have just placed an order for Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik, Canadian Words & Sayings, and As The Canoe Tips, and will add more of your titles as I finish these.

I have just retired from a 40-plus year career in book publishing, the last thirty years spent as director/editor of a number of university presses, attempting to sort the genuine writers from the "Lazy Con Artists of Academe." Sad to say, the latter have so over-bred the former that I could no longer see the rare gem in the avalanches of offal that daily swamped my office and desk. I visited your website and spent far too long there; it was a pleasure to meet a real writer through his work.

. . . I revisited the paraprosdokian page, and have finally quit laughing again at “Casselman's Conclusion.” You were not unkind to the "profligate prof-lets." During my years as an acquisitions editor, in rejection letters I often quoted Prof. Moses Hadas, classicist at Columbia University, who wrote a young scholar in response to having been sent the prof-let's first book, "Thank you for sending me your book. I will waste no time reading it."

I know I will enjoy your books. Keep up the good work.

Thank you,
Luther Wilson
Director (Retired)
University of New Mexico Press, among others

May 27, 2011

Michelle at http://pythonampersandpearls.blogspot.com/2011/05/thou-whoreson-zed-thou-unnecessary.html writes: “Bill Casselman is like a Canadian-word spokesman or something. He has a page dedicated to the difference between zed and zee; apparently I am not the ONLY person who is concerned with this. He is officially on my list of Awesome Individuals…”

June 13, 2011

Neapolitan online wrote on 2011-06-13

Casselman's Canadian Words by Bill Casselman, 1995.
This dictionary of Canadianisms (broadly defined: words coined by Canadians, or in Canada , or in reference to Canada , and on the margins a few terms just used in Canada ) is certainly one of the more entertaining dictionaries I've read. Casselman wisely decides to display his opinionated and occasionally cranky sarcastic tone throughout, and even when I think he's just being a curmudgeon, this is clearly the right stylistic choice for an amusing educational experience. There's something very pleasing about a national dictionary (the subject of an upcoming MYSTERY ENTRY— place your guesses now!— leaves me a little wary of the implications though), at least in the way that the alphabetical and thematic organization of this work means you get a jumbled sense of Canadian history and geography.

I think it probably points to other 'national' elements, and even some things subtler than the age-old discussion of Canadian place names which all seem to be the most garbled Native words. Instead I found my eye caught by some of Casselman's weirder detours, all ably bolstered by Casselman's impressive lucidity and apparently vast realm of knowledge. For example, sockeye salmon are called that because in Coast Salish 'suk-kegh' means 'red fish,' which I just think is interesting, but there's also the interesting fact that the slur 'redskin' might come from the now-extinct Beothuk and their custom of ceremonially painting themselves red. I don't think that's really a key to understanding anything, but it's a good illustration of the awful tragedy of North American colonization.

From amazon.com Spring, 2011

Bill Casselman book, short review: Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik

“Very humorous. Full of esoteric information. I didn't read it form cover to cover but at random spots or under headings that suited my fancy at the time. I have enjoyed it immensely!”

September 29, 2011

Praise on Twitter from J.L. Turcotte: “I’ve been watching UR site 4 awhile - love it!! (esp. the Québécois - I know the idioms but could never explain them to friends!)

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January 06, 2012

Hello BC .......

What a site! What a collection of books!!

. . . I will buy your new book, I promise, will download it onto my Kindle.

Regards,

A very poor amateur wordsmith

Peter

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March 08, 2012

I really enjoyed your online article on the origins of "bastard" and other "-ard" words! You have a great prose style!

Therese Doucet on social network