Common Phrases: And Where They Come From [Hardcover]

John Mordock (Author), Myron Korach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Have you ever wondered where the phrase "raining cats and dogs" came from? In the myths of the Teutons, an ancient people who occupied Jutland around 100 B.C., the wind was pictured as a huge dog who served as chief attendant to Odin, the Norse god of wisdom and war, and was responsible for the cosmos. They thought that when it rained very hard, Odin's dog, in the form of the wind, was chasing a cat, who took the form of the rain. So the Teutons believed that when it poured, Odin dropped "cats and dogs" from the sky. This is just one of the many fascinating stories behind the dozens of idioms and common phrases we use every day. (5 3/4 x 8 1/2, 228 pages)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clich‚s, maxims, idioms what are the origins of the countless sayings we repeat? Somebody somewhere said "fly off the handle" for the first time. In Common Phrases and Where They Come From, Myron Korach and John Mordock research the often metaphorical, often image-driven and always taken-for-granted phrases that infuse our daily speech. "Gone haywire," for instance, comes from farmers baling hay using, of course, hay wire, which often tangled, broke, got wrapped around cows or somehow misbehaved. "Feather in your cap" can be traced to various tribal rituals; in early Hungary, it was decreed that "none might wear a feather but he who has slain a Turk." The phrase "cock and bull story," coined by Luther's first followers in "the aftermath of the Reformation," refers to papal bulls, which were stamped with an image of St. Peter and a cock. Wordsmiths everywhere will be delighted.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Attorney Korach has spent a lifetime researching the origins of phrases while sifting through old journals and books in libraries and archives. He did not, however, keep records of his sources. Later, when he began preparing this word history, he and coeditor Mordock were able to verify many, but not all, of these sources in general reference works. In the introduction, the editors show how much our culture relies on idiomatic speech to enliven discourse, a point further demonstrated by the more than 150 well-known phrases whose interesting histories they have provided. The arrangement of phrases is loosely thematic, with one to several paragraphs devoted to each. Comparing some of these phrases with their counterparts in The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins (Facts on File, 2000) shows how difficult it is to pin down etymology definitively; the explanations for "spill the beans," "take with a grain of salt," and "let the cat out of the bag" all reflect some disagreement. Entertaining and enlightening, this would be a useful addition to word history collections, but libraries with limited budgets might make better use of the more extensive and still affordable paperback edition of the Facts On File encyclopedia. Katie Sasser, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick, ME
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158574218X
• ISBN-13: 978-1585742189
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Book has very little credibility, January 15, 2004

By 

G. Quinn "Smoove G" (Suburbia, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Common Phrases: And Where They Come From (Paperback)

I was assigned to review this book several years ago for a magazine and was so disappointed with its content that it still annoys me.

Some of the etymologies and explanations in the book are probably true, however, there are quite a few instances where Korach and Mordock are demonstrably wrong--enough, I felt, to doubt the credibility of the rest of the book.

Read the review from the School Library Journal. See where the reviewer mentions "disagreements" with other sources and how difficult it is to pin down etymologies? That's a very delicate way of saying Korach and Mordock's book contains a lot of poorly-researched entries and very dubious explanations.

Spend your money on a different etymology book. This one is simply not a reliable source.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great way to spend your "Mad Money.", September 6, 2001

By 

Doug Kueffler "Gruggers" (Missoula, MT United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Common Phrases: And Where They Come From (Hardcover)

This has been a great find. You don't actually "read" it so much as you look up expressions and phrases and sayings in the index and then read them to someone else. A terrific little volume to keep on your desk or even in the backpack. Lots of fun. I don't understand how I can be the first reviewer!

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOW I KNOW, December 31, 2002

By 

S. Calhoun "rhymeswithorange" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Common Phrases: And Where They Come From (Paperback)

I've always been intrigued by common phrases, or idioms, that are part of our everyday language. As a result I was happy to get my hands on this book. After reading COMMON PHRASES: AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM I feel as if many of my questions have been answered.

In the introduction, almost as interesting as the body, Morduck and Korach explain the prevalance of idioms in addition to their historical and social significance. Now I realize how these common phrases maintain an important bond between the present and the past. Some of the idioms are so commonplace that I didn't realize their historical significance. Here is an example I found interesting,

"Apple of My Eye: It was believed as long ago as the ninth century that the pupil of the eye was a vital spot in the human anatomy. Primitive medical curiousity about it caused the early healers to study the pupil as closely as they could. They concluded that it was apple shaped, and so it become popularly known as 'apple of the eye.' Because the pupil was considered as vital as life itself, it become customary for a gallant hero to call the object of his affections 'the apple of my eye.'" (p. 16)

COMMON PHRASES: AND WHERE THEY COME FROM is well worth the money and time if you're as interested in idioms as I am.