Challenging Words is a sublime adventure in recreational linguistics that brings order to our English language. Be prepared for a wordy workout consisting of aerobics of the mind and push-ups of the brain.

This is not a book for everyone. But if you are heels-over-head nuts about language and have a passion for snatching significance from the mass data swirling around us, you will share in its pages some sublime adventures in re-creation-al linguistics.

In the process of rising to the various challenges in these pages, your axons, dendrites, ganglia, and synapses will get quite a workout as you engage in a series of push-ups of the mind and aerobics of the brain.

Throughout his word-happy, wordstruck, wordaholic career, Dr. Richard Lederer has epitomized “learning dressed up to have fun.” His mission is to impose order on chaos and sprinkle fairy dust on the mundane. Enter this great banquet hall of words, and you will savor the abundant harvest of our bountiful, multifoliate English language.