Looking at the language of America and explaining the history behind it, this book covers: the origins of phrases such as The Real McCoy and the G-string, why two humble bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight when the world's greatest engineers couldn't get a model aircraft off the ground, why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning, and how a lonesome hamburger stand at the end of Route 66 provided the inspiration for McDonald's.