A fun little book about how names(of places) became words and words became names (of places). I sometimes wondered if the author was playing with the reader, if the brief stories behind these entries were invented or real. But then again, you know what they say about truth being stranger than fiction. The author at least has a great sense of humour. For each entry, he begins with a short, pithy *definition* then goes on to reveal the history. Here are a couple of examples:

In the section on names of animal breeds: Lhasa apso - Another dog with a long-held religious gig is this terrier from the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, a breed that has been sounding the alarm in Buddhist temples since 800 BC (which is 17,660 BC in dog years)

He has another section on food: ...Hamburgers were once called Hamburg steaks, after the city in Germany, while French fries evolved from French frieds, short for French fried potatoes. Both underwent wartime renaming, the former called Liberty Steaks during World War I (mostly out of patriotism) and the latter called Freedom Fries at the onset of the Second Gulf War (mostly out of stupidity).

Anyhow, it's an entertaining and relatively quick read, if you enjoy language and etymology. The book is also sprinkled with fun illustrated maps. ( )