Why I read the book: Ran across it somewhere a few years back and put it on my to-read list. When Kelli asked me to pick a Carp book for February, I chose this, thinking most members of Carp would enjoy it.

What I expected: I expected histories of words, which I’ve always found fascinating.

What the book was about: Metcalf does give the history of many words, but spends more time trying to figure out why some words catch on and others don’t. He develops five factors which can be applied to a new word to determine (supposedly) its chance of hanging around.

What I liked about the book: I liked the word origins — he gives a better explanation of OK than any I’ve heard before. Some of the other word histories were fun too.

What I didn’t like about the book: A lot of it was repetitive and boring. He covered a lot of words that obviously were created by someone trying to impress people and didn’t have a chance of sticking around. In the end, he concludes that words will stick around if they stick around.

The most interesting quote: Not a quote exactly, but a summation. OK started as New York slang for “all right.” It would have died quickly except that Van Buren was running for President right then and his followers said OK stood for Old Kinderhook, the town he was from.

Recommendation: Not bad, but not terribly interesting either. If you read it, read it quick.

I liked the word origins — Metcalf gives a better explanation of "OK" than any I’ve heard before. Some of the other word histories were fun too.

But a lot of it was repetitive and boring. He covered a lot of words that obviously were created by someone trying to impress people and that didn’t have a chance of sticking around. In the end, he concludes that words will stick around if they stick around.