Leather-flapper, they said in Old Norse, or rather “lethrblaka”. That
dwindled to “blaka”, and, a few cultures and a few centuries later, to “bat”. If
you enjoy words and their etymology, try Paul West’s The Secret Lives of
Words for an eclectic collection. And, by the way, Archimedes yelled
“Heureka” when he leapt out of his bath. We lost the “h” to the printer’s sloth.
Published by Harcourt, $24, ISBN 0151004668.
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