solitude sunday

solitude sunday.  our day to spend time with a book.  we all have books on the shelf we have been meaning to read.  solitude sunday is the perfect opportunity to enjoy those books.  no time requirement, just enjoy reading.

my time with bill bryson's the mother tongue; english and how it got that way ended with today's session. the remaining chapters discussed names, swearing, wordplay (games with words) and the future of english.

bits that caught my attention:

*names:  macgillesheathenaich! a real surname.
*surnames came about based on profession or relation:  smith, as in blacksmith.  johnson, as in john's son.
*the japanese, the malayans, most polynesians and native american have no swear words in their languages.
*swear words evolve over time. what wasn't becomes and what is isn't. the euphemisms used for swear words are often silly or become a swear word themselves.
*since language began there has been wordplay.
*the crossword puzzle is the number word game. it first appeared in the new york world newspaper in 1913. the first volume of crossword puzzles was published in 1924 by simon and schuster.

next week i'll be discussing the next volume i stick my nose in. what are you reading? share your book with the whimsey project.