Phraseology: Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections, and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions

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More About This Book

Overview

The Amazing Secrets of the Phrases We Use Everyday

Phraseology is the ultimate collection of everything you never knew about the wonderful phrases found in the English language. It contains information about phrase history and etymology; unusual, lost, or uncommon phrases; how phrases are formed; and more than 7,000 facts about common English phrases.

Practical enough to be used as a reference book but so fun that every book lover will want to read it straight through, Phraseology contains such engrossing tidbits as:

  • ACROSS THE BOARD is an allusion to the board displaying the odds in a horse race
  • ARTESIAN WELL gets its name from Artois, where such wells were first made
  • BEST MAN originated in Scotland, where the groom kidnapped his bride with the aid of friends, including the toughest and bravest - the best man.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Kipfer (Instant Karma) collects trivia and fascinating facts about commonly used or currently obsolete English words and expressions. Organized alphabetically, the entries run in length between a single sentence to an entire paragraph and boast an accounting of 7000 facts. Occasionally, eccentric trivia takes precedence over concrete definitions. Although favoring casual readers seeking enlightened entertainment, the book is still practical for etymological researchers. A perfect complement to Anu Garg's The Hidden Lives and Strange Origins of Common and Not-So-Common Words(Plume, 2007). Recommended for English and etymology collections.


—Savannah Schroll Guz

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781402212871
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 10/1/2008
  • Pages: 320
  • Sales rank: 85,541
  • Product dimensions: 5.90 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer is the author of more than 30 books, including the bestselling 14,000 Things to Be Happy About and several Roget's Thesaurus'. She is the managing editor/chief lexicographer for Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com and has worked for such companies as Answers.com, Ask Jeeves, idealab, Mindmaker and Knowledge adventure. She lives in Ivoryton, Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 2.5
( 6 )

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Sort by: Showing all of 6 Customer Reviews

  • Posted December 2, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    Didn't quite live up to the subtitle's promise

    Oh, Phraseology is a trivia buff's dream. Or anyone who loves words and language. My son is of the first persuasion. He loves books like this and promptly snagged it.
    Phraseology is one of those books you want to share. I had just as much fun listening to him quiz me on phrases as he did reading it. Some I knew, but some were complete surprises.

    Here's a few to whet your appetite -

    "To skin a cat" - comes from removing the tough skin from a catfish prior to cooking.

    "Fit to be tied" - refers to being insane and bound, as in a straight jacket tied to the body.

    This is a great book to leave on the coffee table - it can be picked up and read at whim.

    I enjoyed the origin phrases, such as those listed above, the most. Some entries read more like dictionary entries that most people would already know, such as lie detector and celery seed. Some of the facts I found a bit uninspiring - "Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants". Based on the subtitle, I was looking for entries that were more 'bizarre', 'unexpected' and 'fascinating'. Still, this is a fun book to have around the house.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 21, 2012

    Nothing revolutionary

    Most phrases are easily found in any regular dictionary. The promised explanations of weird phrases are very few. The content as advertised on the covet could be handled in a few pages. I don't think this book offers a true value.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 10, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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    Posted December 14, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 3, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 27, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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