I like short words. The shorter, the better. A short while ago I bought a sling or slingshot of formidable design. Cleverly made of sturdy metal and outfitted with the most elastic of rubber bands, it can throw stones to surprising distances. And at striking speeds. The box it came with sports the names of the venerable weapon in three European languages besides English: lancia sassi or frombola in Italian, lance-pierres in French, and schleuder in German. Frombola is the word that I find by far the most pleasing to the ear, but the shorter version of the English word still wins the brevity contest by a wide margin. Sling! What a wonderful word! Yet another opportunity to celebrate my elective language.