From aardvark to zenzizenzizenzic, Word Drops collects a thousand obscure words and language facts in one fascinating chain of word associations.Did you know, for example, that scandal derives from the Latin for “stumbling block” and originally described a trap for a wild animal?In nineteenth-century slang a wolf trap was a corrupt casino.Casino means “little house” in Italian. Roulette means “little wheel” in French. A wheeler is someone who attends auctions to bid on items merely to increase their sale price.Such links take readers on an unexpected journey through linguistic oddities.Inspired by the popular @HaggardHawks Twitter account, Word Drops also uses an intriguing series of annotations to add background and historical context on everything from Anglo-Saxon cures for insanity to Samuel Pepys’s cure for a hangover.This unique book will delight anyone who loves language, etymology, and word games.
