Did you know that the okra plant and the word okra were introduced to the Americas from Africa? Or that squash was first a word from the language of the Narragansett tribe of New England? According to etymologists--people who study words, languages, and word histories--many languages grow by adopting words from other languages, or loanwords. American English is a giant stew, simmering with loanwords like okra and squash. In her latest book,...