Author(s): Kel Richards

General

Where does the word 'honeymoon' come from? Why is New York called the 'Big Apple'? How many different meanings does 'crib' have? Why do we say all of something is 'the whole nine yards'? Where does 'argy bargy' come from? And when your grandmother used the expression 'blatherskite' what did she actually mean?

For the most part the questions have been posed by the listeners themselves through the suggestion box on the Classic FM website. Kel Richards does the research, Clive Robertson has the fun - and so do the listeners.

Each Friday Kel puts the week's words into a 'terse verse' doggerel designed to delight (and it does, or so the listeners keep saying).

However, the listeners do have one small complaint. When each day's Word of the Day is complete, it vanishes into the ether and is gone forever. Where, they plaintively ask, is the Word of the Day repository in which these verbal treasures are stored?

Well, it's here, in your hands right now - to be enjoyed again, to be shared with friends, to be argued or pondered over in the long watches of the night. The Words of the Day are no longer ephemeral, they are here.

Kel Richards' broadcasting career spans more than thirty years, though he is probably best known to current ABC News Radio and Classic FM listeners for his WordWatch and Word of the Day segments on ABC Radio. He is the author of more than twenty books, ranging from children's books to detective novels, including the bestseller The Case of the Vanishing Corpse, which has been published in Europe and Britain.

Clive Robertson is a well-known radio and TV personality, and has presented the Classic FM breakfast show since January 2002. Clive has a wealth of broadcasting talent, an inimitable style and a loyal fanbase that is very pleased to hear him on the airwaves. This is his first foray into the world of book publishing.