Most of the words in our language have come down to us with little or no drama associated with their origins. But there are hundreds of words in our common speech that originated or acquired their meanings in unusual ways, and the dictionaries cannot find the space to give us the stories. How is it that hearse and rehearse have the same root? Doesn't the Greek root of school mean leisure? Why does the word dunce come from the great philosopher Duns Scotus? This book thoroughly and entertainingly tells the stories of these words and hundreds like them and the circumstances that brought them into our language...