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

by Barbara Kipfer

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402212871
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	217,187
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD is the author of many list and reference books. Barbara has an MPhil and PhD in Linguistics from University of Exeter, a PhD in Archaeology, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Greenwich University, and a BS in Physical Education from Valparaiso University. A lexicographer and part-time archaeologist, Barbara is the managing editor of Lexico LLC.