There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actually nurtured the creativity that later flourished in Shakespeare’s writing. Plus, why do we refer to an unpredictable person as a loose cannon? The answer lies in the terrifying potential of a large weapon aboard a warship. And when a delivery driver’s wife teases him about cavorting with strumpets, he asks: What exactly is a strumpet? All that, plus picayune, sit on a tack, the many meanings of fell, a Spanish idiom about oysters and boredom, pickthank, a puzzle about rhyming words, a terrifying passage from Victor Hugo, tacos called mariachis, the juice was worth the squeeze, and more.

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