- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (Oct 10 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060513314
- ISBN-13: 978-0060513313
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.6 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #781,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
He's as mad as a hatter!
Whether it's like a bump on a log or a bat out of hell, these expressions have been around forever, but we've never really known why ... until now! Finally Dr. Funk explains more than 400 droll, colorful, and sometimes pungent expressions of everyday speech. Derived from classical sources, historic events, famous literature, frontier humor, and the frailties of humankind, each of these sayings has an interesting story behind its origin.
If you've ever wondered why when you're in a hurry you are told to hold your horses, wonder no more!
About the Author
Charles Earle Funk was editor in chief of the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary Series. He wrote several other books on word and phrase origins, including Horsefeathers, Heavens to Betsy!, and Thereby Hangs a Tale.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Everyone has seen the way a cat acts with a mouse that she has caught. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Everyone has seen the way a cat acts with a mouse that she has caught. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too many sayings for which the author didnt know the origin!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heavens To Betsy!: And Other Curious Sayings (Paperback)
While many of the entries were interesting, too many were included for which the author admitted he could only guess, or had no idea at all of the origin. Even the title phrase, "Heavens to Betsy" was a complete mystery to the author. Why pique our interest and then disappoint us? I think the author had a good thing going with his first books and just tried to "ride the gravy train" a little too long.
1.0 out of 5 stars
horrible format,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heavens To Betsy!: & Other Curious Sayings (Paperback)
*the format of this book is the worst i could ever imagine. * the sayings aren't in alphabetical order, and in no subject category or chapters. * the title of the book's quotation couldn't be answered in regard to origination, after pages of writing. * the table of the contents is not useful. for example, "three sheets in the wind" shows page 81, so on page 81 you had to look all over the page to find it listed under a totally different listing (drunk as a fiddle). and then it STILL didn't even mention "3S2DW"'s origination. * another example, the first slogan is "to play cat and mouse with one" -- why in the world would that slogan be first? * maybe others aren't as particular as i am, but i would pass on this book. pass it on to an incinerator, that is.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Basically a dictionary....,
By A Customer
This review is from: Heavens To Betsy!: And Other Curious Sayings (Paperback)
I wanted to find out why we, as a society, say such things as "knock on wood" or "in one ear and out the other". Where does that come from? Who started it? I was extremely excited to purchase this book, thinking it would not only answer my questions, but be entertaining. It was a major disappointment. I found the reading very dull. The sayings were obviously well researched, giving origins, dates, and analizations of each words meaning; yet it was more like a dictionary than a story of how the sayings came about. This book has been sitting in my bookcase since the day I bought it waiting for a rummage sale.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
