- With headwords in colour, and quirky character illustrations, this dictionary recounts the absorbing and fascinating history of thousands of words. This new edition takes a fresh look at the cool and curious words we use, and tells the stories of where words come from, whether they are to do with food, the supernatural, fashion, invented words, or words from the 80s, 90s, and noughties. Who ate the first sandwich? Where does abracadabra come from? Would you really be spooked by a zombie? John Ayto, top word expert entertains all ages from eight to eighty with this informative and humorous dictionary.