Mark Forsyth talks to Jasper Fforde

Discover the unpredictable origins and etymologies of our cracking Christmas customs. Did you know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas means ‘Go away, Christ’? And were you oblivious to the fact that the Advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown? Luckily, like a gift from Santa himself, the author specialising in the meaning and etymology of English words is here to unwrap all these traditions and oddities.