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A World with out Language It may be that when the world was young, no one knew how to talk. People had to learn to speak just like babies do. When no one knew how to tell, how did anyone learn? That is a mystery that remains unsolved even today. The Stories behind Words LUNCH Lunch perhaps comes from an old Spanish word lonje , a slab of1 ham. We may get our word from a lump of bread, but whether lunch comes from ham or bread, it meant a hunk of something to eat. ATLAS An Atlas is a strong man, and also a book of maps. The story of this word begins a long time ago in Greece. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods had once been a race of giants2 called Titans. The Titans fought with another group of gods called Olympians, and the Olympians won. Atlas was a Titan. He was punished for fighting be having to stand at the western end of the world, holding the sky on his head and hands, so that it would not fall on the world and smash everything. After the ancient Greek religion died out, the idea of Atlas changed. From holding up the sky with his head and hands, he came to be thought of as holding the world on his shoulders. Mercator3, a map maker of the sixteenth century, used a picture of Atlas on the cover of a book of maps, so a book of maps came to be called an atlas. The word has still another meaning. The top bone of the neck is called atlas because it supports the head. | 
