Red Herrings & White Elephants - The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day
Contents:
What Made The Crocodile Cry?: And Did Those Feet. Myles away from Dublin. Something for the Weekend. Port Out, Starboard Home. Why is Q Always Followed by U? Irish Customs and Beliefs. Deadly Dangerous Kings and Queens. The Little Book of Death. Ghosts of East Sussex. Death and Destruction on the Thames in London.
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The Secret History of Southend-on-Sea. A Touch of Treason. The Essential Book of Useless Information. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Folk Tales. Vile Victorians New Edition. Slimy Stuarts New Edition. Translanguaging with Multilingual Students. The People of Ormskirk.
You want to be British. History in a Hurry: The Complete Deep Thoughts. The Southampton Book of Days. The Roberto Calvi Murder. The Death of Marilyn Monroe: Who Didn't Kill Them. The Story of Frank Whittle. It's a Wonderful Word.
- The Biblical Journey of Slavery:From Egypt to the Americas?
- The Life and Diary of David Brainerd with Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards (Illustrated);
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- Management by Objectives (German Edition)?
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- Entscheidungsfindung in Gruppen (German Edition).
Eat Well for A Single Dollar. Mysteries of The World: Committing the Perfect Crime. Pop Goes the Weasel. Phantom Hitchhikers and Decoy Ducks. Albert Jack's Ten-minute Mysteries. World Famous Mysteries Solved.
Red Herrings and White Elephants
Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep. The Old Dog and Duck. In His Own Words. Money for Old Rope: Legends that made Britain Great. The History of our Favorite Breakfast. They Laughed at Galileo. The Development of Modern Communication. Was Walt Disney Frozen?: Your Man in the Orient - Part 1. Thirty Popular Pub Name Origins. I was sometimes surprised at the origins of phrases, having made my own wrong assumptions. This is a pleasant book best suited to those who like history or linguistics and very suited to those who like history and linguistics. Aug 16, Monique rated it liked it Shelves: Interesting book about the origins of common expressions.
Useful as a reference and to demonstrate knowledge of trivia in social situationas. Jan 17, Janitag rated it really liked it. A lot of work was put into this and I found the whole book really interesting. Not a "finish in one go from cover to cover" kind of book though, there's too much information for that.
Jul 10, Blake rated it liked it. Starts off really well, entertaining and engaging.
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There are some great explanations about frequently used sayings in there. My favourites included "winning hands down" and "to be screwed. I thought they could've whittled it down to the quality ones a bit more rather than trying to up t Starts off really well, entertaining and engaging. I thought they could've whittled it down to the quality ones a bit more rather than trying to up the number of items but leaving the content a bit thin on the ground. Jul 31, Deborah J Miles rated it really liked it Shelves: A wonderful reference book giving the meanings behind so many of the phrases we use every day, and some that have gone out of fashion.
Sep 20, Nine rated it liked it Shelves: Dec 19, Ann rated it did not like it. Sadly disappointing - I love words and trivia and the concept really appealed to me. Unfortunately, this book contains way too many phrases I've never heard before, and many of the explanations are a let down unnecessary, or based on folk stories. I started skipping some parts, but not even sure I'll get close to finishing it. Not a sit-down and read cover to cover but a reference to phrases.
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Was Walt Disney Frozen?: A wonderful reference book giving the meanings behind so many of the phrases we use every day, and some that have gone out of fashion. Tracing the phrases to their origins is hard work but Jack's effort revealed that most of them originated from interesting, if not unexpected, sources. Money for Old Rope: When these facts relate to language and reading, I like it even more. Red Herrings is full of amazing definitions that take us all over the world, including military traditions and famous people who lent their names to describe familiar situations.
If you overheard someone say he's "Dressed to Kill", you may conjure up a Ninja preparing to assassinate a dignitary. But it means "to suggest they are smart, fashionable and set to make a romantic conquest. Boy, have I been missing out all these years. I think I'll refer to it more often. Red Herrings and White Elephants: View all my reviews Sep 28, Maggie rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Its origins can be found in America and the early years of the women's rights movement. The phrase itself was originally meant as a reallying or war cry but backfired when the movement published a journal called "The Battle Axe" to signify their resolve.
Instead, the phrase was quickly used as a derogatory term for the domineering and hostile nature of the majority involved in that movement and as a reflec "A Battle Axe is a comic, if not offensive, term for belligerent and stubborn old woman. Instead, the phrase was quickly used as a derogatory term for the domineering and hostile nature of the majority involved in that movement and as a reflection of what many, including less aggressive women, thought of its members. Perfect for any 30 second increment you're looking to fill.
May 15, S Prakash rated it really liked it. It was quite interesting to get to know the roots of some of the idioms and phrases. The way some of them had originated were quite baffling.
As who could have thought that the the word salary was derived from Salt.. If a person is Not Worth His Salt they are regarded as not good at their job and not worth the wages. During the days of Roman Empire salt was an expensive commodity and soldiers were actually paid partly insult, which they carried in leather pouches. The modern words for wages, 'salary', also originates from this source. It was time worth spending. Recommended for all of the word smiths and etymologists.. Sep 17, Andrew rated it really liked it. Ok first off this is hard work to read in one go - there are multiple entries giving you the suggested back ground to many well used idioms - now be warned this was written by a British author so many of the phrases though international in origin are heavily used as I found out when I showed a few entities to a German colleague at work they are not all internationally recognised.
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- Monde Vu a la Frontière (Les rendez-vous dArchimède) (French Edition).
However it as great fun seeing which entries I knew ok i am sad i admit it and guessed right their origins and ot Ok first off this is hard work to read in one go - there are multiple entries giving you the suggested back ground to many well used idioms - now be warned this was written by a British author so many of the phrases though international in origin are heavily used as I found out when I showed a few entities to a German colleague at work they are not all internationally recognised.
However it as great fun seeing which entries I knew ok i am sad i admit it and guessed right their origins and others I was very surprised! All in all a great book and one I can see myself dipping in to time and again in the future. Jun 22, Melanie Cusick-Jones rated it it was amazing Shelves: I'll admit it, I am one of those geeky types who likes to know random little facts about things. When these facts relate to language and reading, I like it even more. So no surprise that I loved this book. I blasted through really quickly as it's so easy to pick up and read snippets around other books.
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It now sits in the pile beside my bed for when I can't be bothered to read something more involved. If you like understanding word and language origins, in a lightly comic, easy-to-read style, the I'll admit it, I am one of those geeky types who likes to know random little facts about things. If you like understanding word and language origins, in a lightly comic, easy-to-read style, then this book is for you!
Feb 11, Tim rated it really liked it Shelves: I bought this book to encourage a friends daughters to read more. I thought it would fascinate them but apparently not. It did however fascinate us and was picked over constantly, "Hey I bet you didn't know this".. Simply pick over it or use it as a reference. Quite fascinating and great fun to have on the shelf. Feb 17, Nissa rated it it was ok Shelves: I have asked for this book for Christmas for a couple years now and finally got it. It was not what I expected. Author is British and a lot of the phrases were unknown to me, which made the book less fun and less interesting than I had hoped.
It was fine, not more than that. Feb 05, Jess Sturman-Coombs rated it it was amazing. I absolutely LOVE stuff like this! It's really more of a reference book than a 'sit and read' type book but, if like me you like discovering the origins of sayings, then this is the book for you. I have dipped into it so many times that I am now the font of all knowledge when it comes to unpicking the hidden meaning of particular phrases This is one of my most favourite books.
Jan 16, Amy rated it really liked it Shelves: This is a facinating little book on all those crazy idioms and phrases people use. It gives the history behind them - and I found it facinating.
This would be a great gift for your husband as a bathroom reader! You read a handful at a time, or there is an index in the back. Aug 03, Tina rated it really liked it. Fascinating snippets of information regarding the idioms we use in every day conversation. Ideal for those who love English and the idiosyncrasies of it. It is amazing how many phrases are stolen or have morphed from other languages, thank you to French, Scandinavian, Hindi, Latin, Greek, Swahili, you name it, we've stolen from it!