Do you know why…

…a mortgage generally is a loss of life pledge? …why guns have ladies’ brands? …why salt is related to soldier?

You’re about to find out…

The Etymologicon (e-t?-‘mä-lä-ji-kän) is:

*Witty (wi-te): Filled with clever humor

*Erudite (er-?-dit): Showing knowledge

*Ribald (ri-b?ld): Crude, offensive

The Etymologicon is a totally unauthorized guide towards the strange underpinnings of the British language. It explains: how you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are unquestionably right to think that your meager income barely addresses “money for salt”; how the biggest string of espresso shops in the globe (hint: Seattle) links to whaling in Nantucket; and what precisely the Rolling Stones want to do with gardening.