Michael Powell 
Word Nerd [EPUB ebook] 

The English language is full of beauty and surprises. If you’re a lover of the weird and wonderful, from fascinating etymology to the ten most overused and useless English phrases, this book isn’t averse to a peppering of persiflage!Did you know: — pilots and air traffic controllers at major air international airports have to speak English- the hashtag symbol is an "octothorpe"- "bumfiddle" means to spoil a piece of paper or document- the word "noon" originally meant 3pm; the literal meaning of "bamboozle" is to make a baboon out of someone. This book contains a boatload of things you didn’t know about the English language and it’s a guaranteed prolix-free zone.