A fascinating study of words *as people actually use them.* Most books on language do not have the power of the Corpus behind them, which is what makes Damp Squid so special.

This book is written for a British English audience, which means that even hardcore linguaphiles like myself will be kept slightly off-balance the entire time. Even during the introductory, English-comes-from-German-and-1066-blah-blah-blah portions you won't find yourself bored (unless you've also studied British English, I guess).

The origin of the title, apparently a common phrase across the pond, isn't glossed until Chapter 6. Or an exercise in collocation--"What word most naturally comes at the end of this sentence?" isn't as dead simple for American English speakers as it would have been for Brits.

Have a very basic knowledge of Brit slang before going into this, or be willing to Google: if you don't know what a chav or a lorry is, you may be thrown a little too much off balance.

Definitely recommended for any word lovers.