Words

My recent bedtime reading is The 100 Words That Make the English by Tony Thorne.

When I bought it some months ago, I must say I mistook it as a readable dictionary like Bill Bryson's Troublesome Words. But, in fact, this little paperback turns out to be a summary of the origin, change in meaning, famous quotes and funny stories on a hundred words selected by the author.

Not being a native English speaker, I must say this tiny volume is sometimes difficult to follow. Nonetheless, I don't really want to understand everything - pleasurable bits and pieces here and there are good enough.

And, I fancy what words and phrases we are going to include if we have to write a similar book on Chinese.

I believe the first one should be: 被.

PS. Unfortunately, this very word does not have a very satisfactory English equivalent.

For sure that's the case; this kind of event does not happen outside Chinese-speaking countries.