Cheerio Tom, Dick and Harry: Despatches from the hospice of fading words

Written with charm and quaint wit, this study embarks on a voyage of discovery among the words that once peppered the language of baby boomers and their parents to discover why they seem to be slipping from common use. Why is it that people don't say cheerio any more? Why did they in the first place? Do people still tinker with jalopies? And whatever happened to Tom, Dick, and Harry, not to mention all those other folk who provided such excellent conversational shorthand? Filled with entertaining vignettes and intriguing etymology, this collection is a hospice that offers a caring refuge for once-loved words that are in imminent danger of being dismissed as tom-foolery.