I don’t know if the title is an intentional play on words (wordsmiths in this case) but I found “Word Myths, debunking linguistic urban legends” by David Wilton a delightful and easy read.
Wilson begins by explaining how word myths come about and that they are really a significant subset of all urban legends and e-mail hoaxes which themselves come from a line of tall tales and Xerox fables. He also explains that debunking word myths is a thankless task since so many of the tales we hear, we WANT to believe and do not easily forgive those who attempt to correct our beliefs.
“Word Myths” covers such diverse topics as whether picnic refers to a Southern lynching party, whether pumpernickel has something to do with Napoleon’s horse, and whether a tinker’s damn should really be spelled ticker’s dam. Most cases in the book are selected because they are wrong or highly suspect. But a few are verified as possible or even probable. Like a good scientist, Wilson doesn’t like to ever conclude that something is definitely proven. He does feel that some word myths can definitely be disproven –usually because the chronology of when it first shows up in the language.
This would be a fun coffee table or back of the toilet type of book. But it even makes for good armchair reading.
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