# american/english colloquial word for "a book"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106 "2012-01-29T19:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106/61 "2012-01-31T14:10:43Z")
Yeah, but “paperback” doesn’t mean “book”, it means a specific kind of book. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106/62 "2012-01-31T15:42:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Yes, I’m sure with effort you can find literary classic in paperback bindings. Almost all my college English literature books (and I was an English major) were paperbacks. The only hardcover I remember was an epic tome of a Chaucer volume. I also recall Steven King and Tom Clancy books commonly available in hardcover as well. Whether a book is a paperback or a hardcover has no bearing on its literary value. ETA: Now, I will say, that the term “paperback” does tend to connote popular fiction. But it’s not a general synonym for “book.” Tom Clancy and Steven King paperbacks are certainly “books.” ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106/63 "2012-01-31T15:55:36Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It’s usually a magazine or tabloid that’s referred to as a “rag,” Rag is a perfectly analogous term to the one in the OP, and it came to mind immediately for me. Unfortunate that it refers to a magazine or tabloid rather than a book. As others have noted, you might say that “book” itself is a colloquial term for “novel” in common usage. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106/64 "2012-01-31T16:01:10Z")
I’m going to add to the consensus that “there just isn’t such a term in English”. A previous poster suggested that this is probably in part because it’s already a Germanic-origin word, so we don’t feel “compelled” to popularize a homier, folksier equivalent, the way we often do with Latin- and French-origin words. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106/65 "2012-01-31T16:04:42Z")
I’m going to add to the consensus that “there just isn’t such a term in English”. A also agree with a previous poster who suggested that this is probably in part because it’s already a Germanic-origin word, so we don’t feel “compelled” to popularize a homier, folksier equivalent, the way we often do with Latin- and French-origin words. This particular way of distinguishing “highafalutin’” and “down-home” words is difficult to explain to non-native English speakers. I’m reminded of the standard Spanish word for “rusty”, which is “_oxidado_”. It just feels so scientific, so soulless, to an English speaker…it’s hard for us to comprehend that a Spanish speaker can get the same kind of raw, earthy vibe from \*oxidado \*that we get from “rusty”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-colloquial-word-for-a-book/611106.md?page=3)