I have always loved words. Short and long, simple and complex, old and new, with everything in between. I love what they look like, what they mean, and how they sound. I take pride in knowing how to use them correctly and am greatly amused at how easily and often that goes wrong. I am fascinated with how the letters, put together, make words, and how words, put together, make sentences. Their evolution and origin stories continually captivate me. I get great pleasure in taking words apart, then reassembling them into new creations. And, perhaps most of all, I love the humour that comes from putting words together in unusual ways.

The essays cover a wide range of aspects of the English language, but don’t have to be read in sequence. Think of it as a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get until you bite into it, or unless you read the guide that came with the box! But I hope you find this collection delicious, in the metaphorical sense of the word. And if you’re not entirely sure what a metaphor is, you’ll find that in the book!