Over the last few eld , Mental Floss has issue book for singular people of three kinds : The Curious Readerwas for book lovers , The Curious Viewerwas for television lovers , andThe Curious Movie Buffwas for , well , you know .

The Curious Compendiumis more than 200 pages of cogent evidence that just because language ’s primary intent is communication does n’t make it straightforward or boring in the little . Even the unsubdivided term — fromhellotogoodbye — have experienced challenging evolutions , and the stories behind clichéd phrases wander from amazingly literal ( e.g.cut to the chase ) to amazingly mysterious ( e.g.the whole nine yard ) .

The English linguistic communication has also feature so many offbeat and evocativeslangterms over the years that it was tough to choose which ones deserve a spot in our Christian Bible . We ’re happy ( or should we say “ cock - a - ring , ” instead ) to cover thatchoofed , comfoozled , andcream - crackered , all of which essentially mean “ banal , ” made the stinger .

Coming to a coffee table near you.

In addition toold - timey expressionsand etymological oddities , The Curious Compendiumalso features some of story ’s most hilariousinsults , tips for becoming aWordle wiz , and more .

you’re able to read more about the book and find fault up your copy onAmazon , Barnes & Noble , Books - A - Million , orBookshop.org .

two-page spread from mental floss book ‘the curious compendium of wonderful words’

two-page spread showing ‘happiness’ synonyms in mental floss’s ‘Curious Compendium’ words book