Now that's a lexicon

 My little lexicon is a lighthearted attempt to help an American reader connect with a English author. But most lexicons are serious business.

We’d be in the dark about many things in the ancient world were it not for the lexicon compiled by Hesychius (Hay-SOO-key-oss) of Alexandria, a Greek grammarian.

The culture produced people like Herodotus, who was intensely curious about all kinds of people and cultures. Herodotus and those of kindred mind came back with strange words describing the food, religious beliefs, clothes and customs of people who have disappeared.

My lexicon for baffled Americans has perhaps 100 entries. Hesychius’s has more than 50,000.