Street Smarts: From Footpath to Freeway (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781589882119)

Reading Street Smarts, you'll travel through the endless lore of roads, turnpikes, interstate highways, and whatever byways humans have put on Earth. Deborah Warren, a poet and former Latin teacher, is a sure and entertaining guide. Read about odonymy (the study of street names), map-making techniques, the history of the world's most celebrated lanes, and many other road-related topics, and laugh as you turn the pages.

Did you know...

• The word "travel" derives from Latin tripaliare: "to trouble" (literally "impale with three stakes; torture").
• The length of the parasang, used in Arabia and Persia, was a day's walk: hence its distance was a function of climate and terrain--i.e, longer under smooth conditions.
• Realtor.com reports that streets with female names are higher-value than ones with male names.
• Street names in the US include Bucket of Blood Street (Holbrook, AZ), Divorce Court (Heather Highlands, PA), Haviture Way (Eugene, OR), Weiner Cutoff Road (Mallard Landing, AR), and Justin Bieber Way (Forney, TX).
• Japan does not name its actual streets. You typically get directions and addresses from landmarks or traffic signals, which do have names.
• In California it is illegal for a woman to drive wearing a bathrobe. San Francisco forbids polishing your car with your underwear.
• Skippers Canyon Road in New Zealand is considered so dangerous that your rental car insurance won't be honored if you drive on it.