It's a Wonderful Word

Did you know that an assassin is a hashish-eater and a yokel a country woodpecker? That Dr Mesmer mesmerised patients back to health or that Samuel Pepys enjoyed a good game of handicap ? While we're at it, what have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocados ? In It's a Wonderful Word , bestselling author Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, funniest-sounding and most delightful words in the English language, and traces them back to their often puzzling origins. While brushing up on your gibberish or gobbledygook , discover why bastards should resent travelling salesmen, why sheets should remain on tenterhooks and why you should never set down a tumbler before finishing your drink. From blotto to bamboozle and from claptrap to quango , Albert Jack's addictive anecdotes bring the world's most colourful language to life and are guaranteed to surprise and entertain.