Did you know that an assassin is a hashish-eater and a yokel a country woodpecker? That Dr Mesmer mesmerised patients back to health or that Samuel Pepys enjoyed a good game of handicap? While we're at it, what have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocadoes? In "It's a Wonderful Word", bestselling author Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, the funniest-sounding and the most downright delightful words in the English language and traces them back to their often puzzling origins. While brushing up on your slang or nifty, discover why bastards should resent travelling salesmen, why sheets should remain on tenterhooks and why you should never set down a tumbler before finishing your drink. From aplomb to zilch and from claptrap to quango, Albert Jack's addictive ane