What in the Word?

Are you so sure about assure ensure and insure? Can you determine whether a knob of butter is equivalent to a lump or a pat or a scosh? Can you say which word in the English language has the most definitions or who put the H in Jesus H. Christ? <p/> If you can't be assured that Charles Harrington Elster author of several well-loved works on language can--and does in his latest book a delightfully designed compendium of the most common interesting and entertaining conundrums in our language. Drawing upon esoteric sources and his own inimitable expertise Elster uses a lively question-and-answer format to cover a variety of topics--word and phrase origins slang style usage punctuation and pronunciation. Every chapter features original brainteasers challenging puzzles and a trove of literary trivia.