Discusses euphemisms, etymology, linguistic change, grammar, rules of correctness, overcorrection, spelling and punctuation, wordplay, and other aspects of the English language.

Modern English is rich in words derived from sources as diverse as classical Latin and Greek, Indonesian and other Asian languages, European mythology and religion, and the popular culture of many times and places. In this survey of the origins of several hundred familiar English words, linguist Robert Gorrell explores the myriad ways our language has been shaped by successive conquests of Britain by the Romans, Germanic tribes, and Normans; by borrowings from Greek (which followed the spread of Christianity into the British Isles), Arabic, Native American languages, French, and others; and...

In a raucous department meeting at Farwestern University, Roberta Pierce, 60-year old popular lecturer on the faculty, criticizes some of the senior staff. Her body is found in the morning, with a knife in her back. Rocky Yates, detective in the city police department, is called in and starts an investigation that turns up drug dealing on the campus, and gets young assistant professors Mark Hastings and Kate Barton involved as they try to help a promising black student, addicted to drugs. Rocky suspects that Roberta Pierce was not just a sweet old lady who liked to entertain her female...