Customer Reviews

Phraseology: Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections, and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions

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

 

 

Phraseology is a dictionary of phrases, defining evrything from dermagraphism (a hickey) to wild card. Often, the definition is assumed to be known (as in Waldorff salad), and so the basic origin of the word is given. More often, though, a brief definition is given without giving any information as to its etmology. Whereas books such as Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins will give a very detailed history of a few words, this book gives a cursory explanation for thousands of words (more than 7000 according to the back of the book). There were a number of aggrivating features to this book. First, I can get more information about word origins and even meanings from the OED. Second, the order of the words seems random. Sometimes the word is listed right where it ought to be (Waldorff salad is in the Ws) and other times, you have to guess (Quahog is under Hard Shelled Clam); there is little authority control. Finally, it's just not interesting to dip into. Most etymology books are either entertaining and brief or are very detailed. This, unfortunatly, is neither. It seems the author bit off more than she could chew. Rather than finding an index card worth of information on the words, she barely found a post-it note.

It's a random list of often goofy, often infinitely obscure, often maddeningly incomplete, always completely unsupported or referenced, and sometimes downright fallacious or wrong definitions of words and phrases.
As far as I can tell, the editor got bored after the first few pages and dropped off to sleep (or stormed from the room in a fit of pique).

This should be a good "odd moments" book for reading while waiting at the doctor's office, or sitting you-know-where, but it's not. If you've even a modicum of practical knowledge, it will leave you scratching your head; one might wonder why the entry "sausage dog means dachshund" is interesting or surprising to anyone other than perhaps a shut-in five-year-old. What is really interesting, to me, is why she left "wiener dog" or "badger dog" (not to mention capital letters and punctuation) out of the equation.

Dr. Kipfer insists the phrase "free range" "is supposed to mean" (as opposed to "really means", which, I thought, was the whole purpose of the book) poultry allowed to roam free and "consuming only a vegetarian diet." I imagine the good doctor has never seen free-range chickens in action, because their diet is anything but vegetarian. (If this sort of thing does not bother you, then perhaps the run-on-without-a-cause "the display case for meat that is packaged at the grocery store and the self-service meat counter and the butcher's area the fresh meat counter" might give puzzle.

Oh, I could go on, but I might be accused of picking fly-poop out of black pepper (which phrase, along with "hen on a June bug" might have afforded some real interest). Truth be told, this book reads like a long walk on a short pier.

My expectations of this book were that it would be an informative explanation of the origins of common phrases or, at least, a useful reference book. It turned out to be a disjointed pile of data with little or no information. It consists of a randomly selected group of words and phrases, each accompanied by a short, usually meaningless, note. Some notes are a partial definition, many are a somewhat pedantic lecture on proper grammatical usage, some are merely a date when the phrase (allegedly) first apeared. Many of the attempts to explain the meaning and/or origin of phrases are, in my opinion and experience, patently incorrect. In the spirit of fairness, the book may improve in later sections; I only read to the "C" entries before I threw the book across the room in frustration. The book was very effective at scaring the cat.

I found this book and thought it would be perfect for me to look through and learn some great and funny origins to phrases often used in our English culture. It does have that, but they aren't in depth at all, very simple concise explanations with no back story what so ever. I found the text lacking in what I thought would make it a fun read. Overall pretty boring

I have already reviewed this item and am very happy with it. Do not have anything to add to my previous review.

Very good explanations of many words and phases used today and were used in the past. Reads like a dictonary but more entertaining.

I was looking forward to learning about the history of interesting phrases, and this book did not deliver. Random example: "President Theodore Roosevelt coined the term lunatic fringe" That was it... Ok, when, why, what was the origin? Waste of time, glad I just checked it out of the library!

Oh, Phraseology is a trivia buff's dream. Or anyone who loves words and language. My son is of the first persuasion. He loves books like this and promptly snagged it.
Phraseology is one of those books you want to share. I had just as much fun listening to him quiz me on phrases as he did reading it. Some I knew, but some were complete surprises.

Here's a few to whet your appetite -

"To skin a cat" - comes from removing the tough skin from a catfish prior to cooking.

"Fit to be tied" - refers to being insane and bound, as in a straight jacket tied to the body.

This is a great book to leave on the coffee table - it can be picked up and read at whim.

I enjoyed the origin phrases, such as those listed above, the most. Some entries read more like dictionary entries that most people would already know, such as lie detector and celery seed. Some of the facts I found a bit uninspiring - "Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants". Based on the subtitle, I was looking for entries that were more 'bizarre', 'unexpected' and 'fascinating'. Still, this is a fun book to have around the house.

Saw this in a catalogue, but didn't want to pay the price. When this is the case I almost always find the item for less at amazon. I didn't love the book. It looked fine, but a lot of the listings in the book, which is laid out alphabetically, aren't what I expected. I skimmed it for a couple of weeks, kind of like a bathroom reader & then listed it on swaptree & traded it for a different book I wanted.

Phraseology is a fun and informative book. What a perfect gift for the trivia buff, a teacher, an inquisitive young person or just for the person who already thinks they know it all. I liked it so much I had to have one for myself!