Customer Reviews

Heavens to Betsy!: & Other Curious Sayings

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

 

 

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.

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.

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the format of this book is the worst i could ever imagine.
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the sayings aren't in alphabetical order, and in no subject category or chapters.
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the title of the book's quotation (heaven's to betsy) couldn't be answered in regard to origination, after pages of writing and writing.
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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. and then it STILL didn't even mention "3S2DW"'s origination.
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another example, the first slogan is "to play cat and mouse with one" -- why in the world would that slogan be first?
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maybe others aren't as particular as i am, but i would pass on this book. pass it on to an incinerator, that is.

Though the book does explain the logic behind many "curious sayings", many others are simply described without any real explanation. Not as thorough as I had hoped.

Good but not overly concise book of old-timey espressions - learned a lot with this one! Wonder if we know what we're saying sometimes.... Fun gift book.

I consider myself a "wordie" - love to hear about interesting word origins and the like - and so was very happy to see this book at the used book store. After reading it, however, it is going back to the used book store. Parts of it were okay, but nothing was especially earth-shattering about it. And, most unfortunately, so many of the entries were expressions that only my grandfather remembers anymore that it was more or less irrelevant to me. I suppose there's a quirk factor to the book, and perhaps it would be useful for someone wanting to write a book set in the 40's or 50's, but there are many better books to buy if words are your thing.

A good quick reference to many common idioms, providing the background when available or indicating that the source is obscure. not extremely comprehensive, but a good quick source, worth the price.

It was a Christmas gift. Looked interesting, as I did a quick scan. It was not packaged well enough. The book was punctured at the spine, but not so badly that it wasn't usable.

An excellent source; a good evening's read. Might just learn something while being entertained.