Lovers of words will love this Web site: It's called World Wide Words, and it's assembled with great care and passion by a British fellow named Michael Quinion. He's an interesting guy. Studied physical sciences at Cambridge, where he got into radio. Made audio-visual tapes advertising tourist attractions throughout Britain. He also was the curator of the Cider Museum in Hereford, and a cider maker and author of two books on the process.

Mostly he's a word maven, with a dry British wit and an apparently inexhaustible set of resources for digging up obscure words and their even more obscure origins.

Recent posts have included "stiff upper lip," which, I was surprised to learn, is American in origin, despite its long association with the British. Then there's "two-car funeral," (the entry for which quotes -- ahem -- The Mighty Fresno Bee). And there's "gowpen," which means a double-handful.

If you love words, and love wallowing in them while you're supposed to be working at your computer at the office, this is the Web site for you. Bookmark that puppy.