Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to Do with Pigs: And Other Fascinating Facts About the English Language

For the word-obsessed, there's nothing worse than when a stodgy dictionary says 'origin unknown.' Often, it tempts word lovers into making up their own twisted word histories, claiming, for example, that the word 'sirloin' is so called because it was in fact 'knighted' and thus, from an ordinary loin, became a 'Sir' Loin. Katherine Barber, Word Lady Extraordinaire, is here to tell us that there are plenty of fascinating, bizarre, and (yes!) perfectly TRUE word histories for us to savor without having to make them up (thank you very much). Did you know that the word "travel" is derived from an instrument of torture? That "tragedy" originally had something to do with goats? Or that the expression "you're toast!" comes from the movie Ghostbusters?

In the same lively, witty, and entertaining style that has won her fans around the world, Katherine takes readers on a lighthearted, informative, and extremely 'dippable' romp through the histories behind hundreds of our most common words and phrases. A delight for budding etymologists and word-nerds alike, SIX WORDS YOU NEVER KNEW HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH PIGS is an ideal bathroom browser and a must have for the language addict in all of us.