Items related to Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words...
The real story of a word or phrase’s origin and evolution is often much stranger—and much more humorous—than the commonly accepted one; the many entries will certainly leave you “happy as a clam.” Happy as a clam? Really, what’s so happy about being a clam? The saying makes much more sense when it’s paired with its missing second half: “at high water.” Now a clam at high water is a safe clam, and thus a happy clam. From the bawdy to the sublime, Quinion’s explanations and delightful asides truly prove that the “proof is in the pudding.”
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About the Author:
Michael Quinion hosts and writes the World Wide Words Web site and is a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionairy.
From Publishers Weekly:
Logophile Quinion, who writes a column about new words for the Daily Telegraph, proves his knowledge of familiar phrases in this energetic look at common English words and idioms. The first known use of the term "cut and dried," for example, occurred in 1710, in reference to an uninspired sermon; like herbs precut for sale in markets, the sermon lacked freshness. The notion of a "graveyard shift" did not arise from Victorian-era workers minding cemeteries to make sure people weren’t accidentally buried alive ("I love such stories, complete and utter hogwash though they are," notes the author), but dates from the early years of the 20th century, and is merely an evocative term for the night shift. From "Akimbo" (perhaps Old Norse in origin) to "Zzxjoanw" (an etymological hoax rather than a real word), Quinion tours the English language, not always offering definitive answers but generally providing the next best thing: good theories.
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- PublisherSmithsonian Books
- Publication date2004
- ISBN 10 1588342190
- ISBN 13 9781588342195
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages224
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