solitude sunday at the whimsey project. our day to spend time with a book.
my time with the mother tongue, bill bryson's book about how english got to be what we know it today continues with chapter five. chapter five reveals how words got the way they are. words are formed in six different ways: error, adoption, creation, change without overt action, adding or subtracting to words, blending words to form compound words.
bits of information about words that caught my fancy in chapter five:
*velleity: a mild desire, wish or desire that is too weak to lead to action.
*in 1290 nice meant foolish.
*davy crockett coined the word blizzard!
*asparagus was originally sparrow grass.
what are you reading? share with us here at the whimsey project!
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