The Etymologicon: a Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language Reprint edition Mark Forsyth

Do you know why?

?a mortgage is literally a death pledge? ?why guns have girls? names? ?why salt is related to soldier?

You?re about to find out?

The Etymologicon (e-t?-?mä-lä-ji-kän) is:
*Witty (wi-te\): Full of clever humor*Erudite (er-?-dit): Showing knowledge*Ribald (ri-b?ld): Crude, offensive

The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains: how you get from ?gruntled? to ?disgruntled?; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers ?money for salt?; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world (hint: Seattle) connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what precisely the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.