Chrysti The Wordsmith: Altoids to Zima - 5

I'm Christie the wordsmith. Last time we opened the cover of a word book called Abracadabra to zombie more than 300 wacky word origins by husband and wife word lovers dawn and Pam with some lively reading for any word lover. This book seems to have been compiled for young readers. I appreciate authors Wolfson's clear brief word histories such as nastier Shum nose twist. That's what the name of this flower means in Latin. It's an especially fragrant flower that might cause a person to twist his nose to inhale the sweet spicy aroma under dud we find a dog was originally World War One American slang for a bomb that failed to go off. Now a dud is a movie a joke or anything else that doesn't go off very well. Abracadabra to zombie also features quirky side bars that contain rock stars real names the etymologies of the names of our 50 states the names of the planets and the months of the year. One of my favorite sections is called forgotten words antique polysyllables

that would amuse any 10 year old vomit Tory bumble puppy zour slapped and turd to form but alas with this tome it's word lover beware. Several of the etymologies checked against other sources seem illegitimate histories fabricated to make a good story and abracadabra to Zomby more than three hundred wacky word origins. Don't believe everything you read. I'm Christi the wordsmith. Good day were divers. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.