This book is written from the same perspective as Jan Brunvand's The Vanishing Hitchhiker and its sequels. This one focuses on urban legends about the historical origins of words and phrases. Author David Wilton begins with a discussion of how urban legends arise, why we repeat them to one another, and how they should be investigated.



The seven main chapters of the book debunk various linguistic urban legends. Among them are:



- Eskimos have 50 (or 500) different words for snow.

- The "F-word" is a British acronym.

- The Morse code "SOS" stands for "Save Our Ship."

- The flush toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper.

- "Handicapped" derived from "hand in cap" and referred to a beggar.

- President Kennedy said, "I am a jelly doughnut" in German during a speech in Berlin.

- "Spud" comes from the "Society for Prevention of Unwholesome Diet"



This book is recommended for the interesting explanations it presents for commonly-used words and phrases. As others have noted, it could have benefitted from the further attentions of a good editor.