Red Herrings and White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Everyd
By Albert Jack
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Mad hatter . . . pie in the sky . . . egg on your face. We use these phrases every day, yet how many of us know what they really mean or where they came from?
From bringing home the bacon to leaving no stone unturned, the English language is peppered with hundreds of common idioms borrowed from ancient traditions and civilizations throughout the world. In Red Herrings and White Elephants, Albert Jack has uncovered the amazing and sometimes downright bizarre stories behind many of our most familiar and eccentric modes of expression:
If you happen to be a bootlegger, your profession recalls the Wild West outlaws who sold illegal alcohol by concealing slender bottles of whiskey in their boots. If you're on cloud nine, you owe a nod to the American Weather Bureau's classification of clouds, the ninth topping out all others at a mountainous 40,000 feet. If you opt for the hair of the dog the morning after, you're following the advice of medieval English doctors, who recommended rubbing the hair of a dog into the wound left by the animal's bite.
A delightful compendium of anecdotes on everything from minding your p's and q's to pulling out all the stops, Red Herrings and White Elephants is an essential handbook for language-lovers of all ages.
Read more from Albert Jack
Short Stories for Kids: Children’s Stories: Reading for Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Food History & Recipe Origins: The Origins of the Names of the World's Favorite Recipes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Herrings & White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5They Laughed at Galileo: How the Great Inventors Proved Their Critics Wrong Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoral Stories for Kids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnsolved Mysteries: Real Life Mysteries: Ten Famous Disappearances Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5English Words: Learn English: English Grammar: Advanced English Words: Origins, History & Meanings Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/59/11 Conspiracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHealthy Breakfast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert Kennedy: JFK: The Death of Marilyn Monroe: Who Didn't Kill Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pop Goes the Weasel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Myths & Legends: Good Short Stories: Legends that made Britain Great Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5How to Write Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBermuda Triangle: Real Life Mysteries: Unsolved Mysteries Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5JFK: The Death of Marilyn Monroe: Who Didn't Kill Them Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Sheep and Lame Ducks: Origins of Idioms and Phrases Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Seventh Day Adventists & The Great American Fraud Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Urban Myths: Short Stories: Urban Myths & Legends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsD.B. Cooper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUrban Myths & Legends Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Donald Trump: Donald Trump Quotes: In His Own Words Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5NWO: Bilderberg Conspiracy and the Future of the West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParanormal Mysteries Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gun Control USA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeptember 11 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Are Aliens Real?: Aroura Spaceman: America's First Reported UFO Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysterious World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flying Dutchman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Red Herrings and White Elephants
Related ebooks
Time and the Clock Mice, Etcetera Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Adventures of Pinocchio Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Coming of Bill Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar (Warbler Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall: A Timeless Classic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not That It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Masefield: The Best Works Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pickwick Papers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Orange Fairy Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collection Arsène Lupin ( Movie Tie-in) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPsmith, Journalist Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Five Children and It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wodehouse Miscellany Articles & Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chimes: A Goblin Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Three Men in a Boat (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Men in a Boat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Secret: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes from a Small Island Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titanic: The Tragic Story of the Ill-Fated Ocean Liner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Days in History: A Gleefully Grim Chronicle of Misfortune, Mayhem, and Misery for Every Day of the Year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Very Scandinavian Christmas: The Greatest Nordic Holiday Stories of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. First Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Christmas Carol Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Sheep and Lame Ducks: Origins of Idioms and Phrases Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Humor & Satire For You
Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Joke Book (Period): Hundreds of the Funniest, Silliest, Most Ridiculous Jokes Ever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Hacks: Over 100 Tricks, Shortcuts, and Secrets to Set Your Sex Life on Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51,001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best F*cking Activity Book Ever: Irreverent (and Slightly Vulgar) Activities for Adults Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Fun Personality Quizzes: Who Are You . . . Really?! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mindful As F*ck: 100 Simple Exercises to Let That Sh*t Go! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shipped Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Solutions and Other Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love and Other Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swamp Story: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Favorite Half-Night Stand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soulmate Equation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Swiss: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Red Herrings and White Elephants
41 ratings0 reviews