These easy to read vignettes are bite-sized chunks of wisdom on topics like people and places, pop culture, customs, sports and leisure, politics and history, war and military, holidays, animals, superstitions and beliefs, words, expressions, and trivia. I knew the chapter on words would be a favorite, so I flipped to that section. This is the part (from page 139) that convinced me I would love this book:
Why do we say someone diverted from a goal has been "sidetracked"?
Early railroads had only a single track between destinations. Problems arose when a train was met by another goin in the opposite direction or was overtaken by a faster one. This dilemma was solved with the creation of sidings, short lengths of track built parallel to the main line where one train could pull over while the other went by. The train had been "sidetracked," meaning that, for a time at least, it wasn't going anywhere.
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