While most of us use reference books according to the purpose for which they were created -- doorstops, killing empty shelf space, standing on to see if one leg is longer than the other, etc etc -- some develop a fixation, a fetish, a foiblesse, if you like, for books that are designed not to be read but simply referred to.

The fact that my word processor has underlined the word 'foiblesse' is an indication of its infrequent usage, but it does have a place in the English language, according to one Ammon Shea, who spent the last year studying the 21,730 pages of the Oxford English Dictionary.

'Foiblesse', as I have learned from picking randomly through Shea's book, Reading the Oxford English Dictionary (Penguin, e16.62, out October 16) means "a distinctive weakness for something", an irrational, masochistic weakness we might add in this instance, since what would possess someone to plod through a dictionary -- any dictionary -- for a full year.

Yet Shea's obsession takes him from the realm of the barking mad and into the certifiably insane. He finds the letter B 'wildly entertaining' and greets the bi-annual conference of the Dictionary Society of North America with the type of glee generally reserved for, well, nutters at a dictionary conference.

As for further examples from the book, let's just look at two which lie in close proximity to each other. 'To lant' means 'to add urine to ale to make it stronger', while 'to latibulate' means 'to hide oneself in a corner'. Why do any of these things? Who knows? We can only conclude that if words exist to describe such bizarre human actions then should we really be surprised that a book like this has appeared?

But you do admire a passionate book, and despite its seemingly narrow confines, this is one that should take Christmas by storm because of its irresistible wit and charm. A wee little gem.

Spare a thought for another eccentric who has just set out on a year-long quest of a very different kind: refusing to lie.

Based on the moral code put forward by philosopher Immanuel Kant -- that lying is morally wrong and damaging to the human being -- 42-year-old Cathal Morrow has pledged to avoid fibbing for a full year, the details of which will be published in a book that will be called The Complete Kant, should he ever succeed.

Morrow quit his job seven years ago to write a work of fiction about a photocopier salesman who is perfecting a formula for finding his inner self. As there were few takers, the concept became more grounded in traditional philosophy and Morrow managed to find backers on asmallworld. com, a social networking site that is more Free Masons than free-for-all, in that it's strictly by invite only.

The first chapter of Morrow's moral journey can be found on his website www.thecompletekant. com. But judging by the content -- or lack of it -- Morrows methodology is to say very little at all and avoid lying in the process. We await his findings.

- Tom Galvin