Word Nerd

The English language is full of beauty and surprises. If you're a lover of the weird and wonderful, from fascinating etymology to the ten most overused and useless English phrases, this book isn't averse to a peppering of persiflage!Did you know: - pilots and air traffic controllers at major air international airports have to speak English- the hashtag symbol is an 'octothorpe'- 'bumfiddle' means to spoil a piece of paper or document- the word 'noon' originally meant 3pm; the literal meaning of 'bamboozle' is to make a baboon out of someone. This book contains a boatload of things you didn't know about the English language and it's a guaranteed prolix-free zone.