The Casual Lex

<p>Are you a lover of language?</p><p>Awaken your passion for words and savor the sheer deliciousness of the things people say!</p><p><i>Casual Lex</i> holds the hidden pleasures found in our usage of words. This fresh edition of the classic <i>Why You Say It</i> will turn you on to the fascinating?and often surprising?stories behind everyday words and phrases. Experience <i>Casual Lex</i> and discover: </p><ul><li>The phrase <i>hell on wheels</i> comes from the early American practice of renting railway flatcars to create rolling casinos and brothels bound for the Wild West.</li><li><i>Gibberish</i> was the word coined by English villagers to describe the hard-to-understand dialects of certain bands of Gypsies.</li><li><i>Gymnasium</i> comes from the Greek word <i>gymnos</i> which means naked?Greek athletes trained and competed in the nude.</li></ul><p>If your joy of language has been aroused then many more surprises await you. After all even the most formal users of our language can benefit from a little <i>Casual </i>Lex.</p>