Celebrating "etymology as serious entertainment," this playful yet perceptive study of the evolution of countless words and phrases is as amusing as it is enlightening. Poet and former Latin teacher Deborah Warren divvies up delicious linguistic delicacies in rapid-fire succession: Cinderella's slippers were originally "vair" (fur) and became "verre" (glass) over the ages through the story's oral transmission; early public transportation (omnibus: "for all") gave us our "bus"; we got "tutu" from toddlers' mispronunciation of a barely hidden cul (culus: "bottom"). Word lovers will enjoy this breezy stroll through the slippery and surprising English language. (CH)