A witty and thought provoking new book from wordmeister Ruth Wajnryb on the words that are fading from use.
Ruth Wajnryb returns to explore the words that once peppered the language of baby-boomers and their parents to discover why they seem to be slipping from common use. Why is it that people don't say 'cheerio' anymore, and why did they in the first place? Do people still tinker with jalopies? And whatever happened to Tom, Dick and Harry, not to mention all those other goodly folk that provided us with such excellent conversational shorthand? Filled with entertaining vignettes, fun facts and intriguing etymology, Ruth's hospice offers one last, brief outing for these pre-loved words, may of which are fast moving towards being labelled 'obs' (for 'obsolete') or 'arch' (for 'archaic') in The Greater Oxford.
