"For those who get high on language."

That's how one reviewer praised Irvine Welsh's latest effort, The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs. It's not a seminal work, like Trainspotting or Ecstasy, but it has reminded me of why I've endeavoured to read every book he's ever written.

Between dialogue written in phonetic Scottish brogue and narration bristling with linguistic gems, his novels feed into my already pompous lexicon. Since his books are always set in Leith (the port district of Edinburgh) and explore the history, prejudices, vernacular and current state of the Scots, they've become an anthropological primer for a possible move to my ancestor's homeland.

So, as an homage to my favourite author, I compiled a list of words as I read the other night. Try some of these on for size: agog, apopleptic, blithe, besotted, doleful, egress, empyreal, ennui, erudite, fastidious, fey, foible, foist, jocular, jocund, malodourous, parsimonious, putrescent, quaff, surreptitious, supine, suspiring, tawdry and wan. And to think, he uses cunt, nonce, knob cheese and pouf in equal measure.