Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Life and Language in the USA
The Tower of Scrabble Babel
You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello
The US and "Them" View of the World
Minding the Metaphor, Part I
Minding the Metaphor, Part II
Let's Play the Dictionary Game!
Pants on Fire
How Are You Fixed for Time and Money
CHAPTER TWO
Whence These Words
The Herd Mentality
Shakespeare: The Legacy in His Lines, Part I
Shakespeare: The Legacy in His Lines, Part II
On the Trail of Word Origins, Part I
On the Trail of Word Origins, Part II
On the Trail of Word Origins, Part III
The Familiarity of Foreign
The Scholar's Ink and the Martyr's Blood
CHAPTER THREE
Grammar Grievances, Malaprop Muddles, and Pronunciation Pickles
Inconstant Consonant and Sudden Vowel Movements
Grammurder in the First Degree
Grammurder in the Second Degree
The Law of Schwa
The Abdominal Snowman on the Cal-Can Highway
Into the Prepositional Fray
CHAPTER FOUR
Windows on the World
It's All Bubble and Squeak to Me
Lost (but Not Forgotten) in Translation
We Don't Have a Word for It, Part I
We Don't Have a Word for It, Part II
News from the World of Words
Speaking of Tongues
Pigments of our Imagination
Between the Sword and the Wall
The Language Police
Rum and Revolution, Part I
Rum and Revolution, Part II
CHAPTER FIVE
The Wonders of the Bilingual Brain
Riding the Silver Tsunami
The Best Brain Elixir
The Blooming Brain
The Tongue May Stumble, But the Brain Purrs
The Job Seeker's Competitive Edge
CHAPTER SIX
A Life in Words
Make Love Not War
Don the Noose for Biscuits
All About Me, the Sequel
All About Me, Prequel I
All About Me, Prequel II
Ez Dakite Euskaraz Hitz Egiten Duzu?
The Cure by Feeding of Earworms
A Girl (Not) Named Sue
Behind Closed Classroom Doors, Part I
Behind Closed Classroom Doors, Part II
Behind Closed Classroom Doors, Part III
CHAPTER SEVEN
Marking Moments in the Year
High Notes on Highway 99
May Your Days Be Merry and Bright
Have a Feliz Navidad and a Diglot New Year
And the Word of the Year is…
"Reach Out" and "Open Your Kimono": A Lexical Review of 2015
The Secret to Everything, Part I
The Secret to Everything, Part II
Around the World in Cupid's Quiver
Mary and the Merry Month of May
The Yodeling Dutchman: A Father's Day Tribute
