Word Drops A Sprinkling of Linguistic Curiosities

A beautiful and irresistible collection of trivia for wordsmiths and lovers of language -The former Greek currency, the drachma, literally means "handful." -The "bowl" formed by cupping your hands is called a gowpen; the amount it holds is called ayepsen. -The earliest known reference to a bowling alley dates from 1555. -During the First World War, Germans were nicknamed Alleymen. -In Navajo, Germany is called Bééch Bich'ahii Bikéyah—or "metal cap-wearer land." Word Drops is an intriguing and surprising compendium of 1000 facts about words, language, and etymology. Leading us through a smattering of unexpected connections and weird juxtapositions, Paul Anthony Jones reveals facts and tidbits about words that reveal much, too, about cultures and histories around the world. Each "drop" leads in some way to the next; and many are enhanced by discursive and entertaining footnotes, taking the reader off into wild flights of fancy about Tudor England, for example, before leading on to World War I and the Navajo language. This is an immensely pleasurable and unpredictable collection that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows (the literal meaning, incidentally, of supercilious).