Customer Reviews

Dog Days and Dandelions: A Lively Guide to the Animal Meanings Behind Everyday Words

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've looked through word origin books that were dry and hard to read, but Dog Days and Dandelions is a delight. There are stories to be told about where words come from; this author knows how to choose them and how to tell them.

I visited amazon to find more of her books, but they are out of print. I hope either some of you readers will sell your used ones, or that more will be written or printed soon!

I had no idea there were blackbirds in my merlot nor horses in all my jaded, hackneyed, tacky everyday observations. What a treat of a book! Of course, not that I was surprised...all Barnette's prior offerings-- the charming Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies and A Garden of Words--are a must-have for writers and readers alike. Anyone who loves words will adore this treasure of a book. I've already learned more than I did in college! And I've just ordered it for three of my friends. Highly recommended.

A friend gave me this book, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The author uses linguistic detective work to show us the tracks of all sorts of animal stories hidden inside familiar English words (like the little dog that inspired the word "feisty" and the caterpillar in "chenille"). She also makes it easy to learn some surprising new words. My favorite so far is "chatoyant," which means "shining like a cats' eyes"!

It is clear the author loves animals and also loves words. Her delight in both of them is infectious. Like everybody's favorite teacher, she clearly knows a lot about her subject, and communicates it with enthusiasm, plus a great sense of humor. I would recommend this book to any word lover, as well as to anyone else who's naturally curious about animals and the world around us.

Martha Barnette is the best. Few others can enliven dry and obsure facts and information like she can - all her books about words should be required reading for anyone with any aspiration of becoming a writer. And she serves up way more than fodder for cocktail chatter. After reading her, you'll find yourself thinking differently about all the words around you.Check out her website... for a preview.

I was so glad to see that Martha Barnette has a new book out ! I loved her other word books, Ladyfingers & Nun's Tummies and A Garden of Words.

In this one, she writes about hundreds of English words that have animals in their history. Many are surprising, to say the least! Reading this book, I learned the stories behind lots of words like "dandelion" and "maverick" and "tacky" that have surprising origins -- all of them involving animals. (I was also very surprised to discover why we call it a "bidet"!!!)

As usual, she writes in a very humorous and lighthearted style, which makes learning about language lots of fun.

This book would be a great gift for anyone who loves words, or loves animals, or who just wants to expand his or her vocabulary -- while enjoying a lot of laughs and surprises along the way! Highly recommended!

A good dictionary of words that have their origins in anything to do with animals...this book is an easy and quick read for word lovers. It explains the origins of many words we use everyday, in an interesting, lucid manner. This collection also includes many names of people and flowers that are derived from animals.

This book would be even better if each word had a pronunciation guide, and if its usage was made clear with an example sentence. But this is a minor point as these two factors are well covered in the author's excellent website 'funwords.com'.

Another great point about this book is that it features a list of books and recommended websites for word lovers.