I think listening to endless cassette audiobooks of Just William and Jeeves and Wooster on car journeys was probably the single best thing to happen to my Engli

I think listening to endless cassette audiobooks of Just William and Jeeves and Wooster on car journeys was probably the single best thing to happen to my English learning as a child. The vocabulary of the first half of the 20th century is much wider than I expect from more recent books. I'd actually be surprised if any of those words didn't occur at least once. "Simper" certainly did: Violet Elizabeth did so at every opportunity when adults were around.