Word myths

Sinopse

"Word Myths takes on linguistic urban legends, not just debunking them, but also examining why they are told and what they tell us about ourselves. The book examines the patterns and comes to conclusions about such things as why we attach morbid tales to children's rhymes, why newspapers keep promulgating false origins for terms like the Windy City, or why so many words have false nautical origins."--Jacket.