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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
On-target, smart mix of fun and fact, February 17, 2009
This review is from: Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis: The military origins of everyday words and phrases (General Military) (Hardcover)
As a lover of word origins, I have often been disappointed by books about the birthplace of common phrases and expressions. They are either too brief, confusing or arch for my taste. But Graeme Donald's "Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis" blends history, humor and insight in just the right proportions, and at just the right length. Better yet, it does so with a narrative impulse that helps make sense of the world outside the words. Take the word "target" for instance. This word once described a small, round shield. It came to mean a small round, well, target, that one use for practice. But how did the transformation occur? "Sticklers" brings us to the mid-18th century, when the ascendancy of firearms was making shields useless. The devices were piling up in military warehouses until someone had the bright idea to hang them on a tree and invite townsmen to come hit the target. Now, the word itself means any point or object at which one aims a projectile -- whether physical or verbal.
This is the kind of memorable storytelling that shows "Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis" at its best. I also appreciated the fact that Donald allowed certain words to retain their murky and confused origins; absolute certainty about etymology is often a sign of lazy research. "Sticklers" is not above exploding hallowed myths, such as the likelihood that the Black Hole of Calcutta -- in which over 100 British soldiers were said to have suffocated -- was a propaganda ploy by the British East India Company to win popular support for a military mission to help it regain a foothold in India. Whoa.
A great book, well and smartly researched -- on such solid ground that it occasionally contradicts the established verities of the OED. The only regret I have is that it limited itself to words with clear military origins. Another book, Mr. Donald. Please!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellently Entertaining, August 26, 2010
This review is from: Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis: The military origins of everyday words and phrases (General Military) (Hardcover)
I don't know about you, but some of the first things that I consider when purchasing a book, especially one that is essentially a reference book, is who wrote it and why. After which I try to determine what their approach was in ferreting out the information that they set forth in their book.
The answer to the first question, is that Graeme Donald was/is a newspaper columnist with a love of words and word-play. He wrote for "Today" magazine for 10 years, among others, as well as played the key role in devising questions for a word-y game show for the BBC.
I have not uncovered the answer to the question "why" Mr. Donald wrote this book, although I have to say that he seems quite the word enthusiast, and perhaps that is enough.
The answer to the third, and most important question, is that he appears to have been sufficiently vigorous in trying to ascertain his definitions. Donald began with the standard reference sources and primary works, and then branched out to ask the experts. And he didn't restrict his research to university professors, but went to whomever appeared to have the most knowledge, even if it was a retired engineer in Leeds --listed in the ASLILB Director of Information Sources in the United Kingdom-- who specializes in all things catapult.
To give you an idea of his approach, I'll tell you a little about what he says about Amazons. He starts out by giving the modern usage: "Statuesque woman and a South American river". After that Donald points out what academicians have thought over the centuries. Everything from the once popular academic notion of such lofty figures as Skeat, Brewer and Gibson, that the name derived from the Greek "mazos" or "without a breast" and that some sort of cauterization was implied; to the suggest that perhaps the term came from another Greek word that means "without cereal" implying that perhaps these women were nomads rather than disfigured. Other derivations are considered, before Donald settles down to the Old Persian work "hamazon" which simply means "a warrior".
He supports that notion by pointing out that there were female Persian warriors and that archeologists and anthropologists have dug their gravesites.
He goes on at some length to explain why the river was named Amazon, as well as how the story of the fierce warriors percolated through European history... but I won't. Instead I'll say that I thought he did a good job of elucidating and clarifying the origins of these military derived words.
Conclusions :::
This is a wonderful, funny book. Donald's sense of humor is marvelous and his book is not only useful and authoritative, but there isn't a thing boring about it.
That said, it cannot REALLY be considered a definitive 'library-style', R-section, reference book because there aren't footnotes. An excellent place to start, however.
Good resource. Excellently entertaining. Obviously I liked it. I gave it 4.5 Stars.
Pam T.
for PageInHistory
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of trivia, lots of fun - well worth your time!, January 24, 2010
This review is from: Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis: The military origins of everyday words and phrases (General Military) (Hardcover)
'Sticklers, Sideburns & Bikinis' is a collection of words with military origins, and their history and dissemination into the common vernacular. Author Graeme Donald is very thorough in his explorations; for each word he provides its definition - both at the time of origin and in our modern language - and how that word evolved in the intervening years. Take, for example, his report on the origin of the word `buff':
Buff: Enthusiast.
In the 17th century a buff coat, made of any stout leather, formed the main part of a soldier's defensive garb and continued to do so in America until the turn of the 20th century. A good buffalo hide coat was the closest thing a trooper had to body armor.
Before fire brigades were regulated forces, fire-fighting duties fell to soldiers in local barracks who found their buff coats effective fire-protection and the additional pay most welcome; there were frequent and unkind reports blaming acts of arson on local soldiers greedy for fire bonus payments, but that is another matter. The professional fire-fighters who emerged in 1850s America were irked by the constant appearance of those they called "Buffs," soldiers turning out to fires to "help" but only succeeding in getting in the way. By 1900 the term had broadened in firefighters' jargon to include the kind of person who turned out regularly to watch some poor person's house burn down, and from this term rolled out into general parlance to denote enthusiasts in any field: film buff, opera buff, and so on.
Donald brings a subtle humor to many of his entries, all of which are crammed with little stories and facts about military. But he takes his research one step further by embracing the larger world outside the military to fully explain the evolution of each word. For example, in his entry for `ninja' Donald reveals that the word is of Western origin, a combination of two Chinese words. He continues to unravel the mystery of the ninja, examining the truth behind the myth of Japan's shinobi.
Trivia buffs, military enthusiasts and word nerds will have a lot of fun exploring the hundreds of words in 'Sticklers, Sideburns & Bikinis.' The length of each entry varies, but reading about a few words each day will keep you entertained for quite a while. Scattered throughout there are also several black and white illustrations.
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