Nowadays, English is the most widely spoken language in the world. While the English language has evolved over time, it has its long origin from Greek and Latin. But as non-native speakers, we may have little knowledge about the origins of English words and phrases that we use every day. This book “Bagels, bumf, and buses: a day in the life of the English language” by Simon Horobin comes to an easy read for those who are interested in the origins of English. Like “Orient”, it is used today “to refer to the countries of the East; the word originates in Latin origin ‘to rise’, and so referred to the East as the land of the rising sun”. Interesting, uhh? What makes the book more interesting and relevant is that, as the title suggests, the author takes us on a discovery journey of the fascinating history of English words through typical day’s activities.

The book is divided into five parts: Starting the Day, Work, Eating & Drinking, Sport & Leisure and Evening. The author kicks off the book from “Starting the Day” by “Getting Up”, “Breakfasting”, “Getting Dressed” and “Commuting”, then gets through the day activities and wraps up the “Evening” by “Going out”, “Drinking” and “Staying in”. Each part starts with an introduction then develops with the associating activities and words.

“Bagels, bumf, and buses” is highly entertaining and humorous. Like for “Breakfasting”, I have eggs for breakfast every day but I never know the origins of the words “breakfast” and “egg”. Well, I have read the book, so I can share “Breakfast” is the first meal of the day and the word comes from the Anglo-Saxon “forme-mete” in the fifteenth century, which means “early food”. “Egg” is actually borrowed from the Old Norse language “æg”. But its meaning has evolved and extended over time. Now “we categorize people as good eggs, bad eggs and rotten eggs. Someone who is unsentimental and ruthless is hard-boiled” (well, sounds like my boss!) with the opposite quality as “soft-boiled”.

These are just a few examples quoted from the book. If you want to know more about other associated “Breakfasting” word origins, like “cereal”, “French bread”, “croissant”, “waffle”, “bagel”, “muffin”, “ciabatta” or simply “bread”, try the book and you won’t be disappointed. There are many more interesting and fascinating little histories of different words that go by the day’s activities. To wrap up the day when the “Evening” closes in, it is time to say “Goodbye” which is actually a contraction of “God be with you”.

“Bagels, bumf, and buses: a day in the life of the English language” is written for general readers in simple language. You don’t need to be a linguist or a specialist in etymology (the study of word origin) to understand the book. Highly entertaining and enlightening, the book certainly gives me new light of looking at the words we use every day. If you are a fan of the English language, “Bagels, bumf, and buses” is definitely your “cup of tea”! Cheers!