Betrumped

If you think that the English language stays still, carved in tablets of stone, think again. English is constantly on the move, enhancing its scope by gratefully accepting words from other languages. It tolerates changes to meanings, often with hilarious consequences, and it allows words to slip away into oblivion when we seem to have no further use for them.In three parts, this book looks at each of these comings and goings, starting with the welcome immigrants that we assume to be Engli