Why Do We Say It?: The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use [Hardcover]

Castle Books (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1555210104 | ISBN-13: 978-1555210106 | Publication Date: August 1, 1986

The stories behind the words, expressions and cliches we use

Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: Book Sales (August 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555210104
• ISBN-13: 978-1555210106
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Words & Language > Etymology
  • #22 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > General
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What I didn't learn in college, November 26, 2004

By 

Bryon Gaskin (Gas City, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Do We Say It?: The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use (Hardcover)

This is a great book for trivia or for finding the meanings and origins of every day words. I went through 4 years of undergrad and 2 years of grad school, and never learned the meaning of a bachelor's degree, why they call the school you attended your "alma matter," why do we "open the budget," or where the term pork barrel politics comes from, but the answer to those questions and hundreds of others is in this book.
Want to know where the dandelion got its name from, you can find it in the book. If you have a friend whose first language is not English, this book serves as an excellent reference for understanding some of English' most common phrase.
I believe this book is out of print now, but grab one of the few that are remaining, if not for yourself, but for the wordsmith or trivia buff in your life.

http://gaskin.dyndns.org

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not in the least trustworthy., October 29, 2008

By 

Gordon Geise "smegma23" (washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Do We Say It?: The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use (Hardcover)

With respect to reviewers who found this book 'interesting' and 'informative', this book is not to be trusted as an authoritative source for any given information. I have a collection of several other books whose purpose is to explain word and phrase origins and all of the respectable ones warrant, with admirable frequency, that the origin of such-and-such phrase is unknown or in dispute. Often multiple possible etymologies are given as possibilities.

This book, by contrast, never questions its own authority. It just hands down decrees on phrase origins--some of which I cross-checked against other sources in my collection and found contradictory evidence or reports that the explanation given here had been discredited long ago!

Even more alarmingly, this source lists no sources. There is no author or editor listed. No prefatory or post-script explanation of how this collection came to be. No credits, acknowledgments, or history of printing. Nothing. From the sheer number of entries that had, by the time of this printing (1985) completely disappeared from common speech, one must assume that the text was originally published decades previous, had fallen into public domain, and was reprinted for no other reason than to make a quick buck.

In short, like horoscopes and the National Enquirer, this book is recommended FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars incomplete, January 3, 2007

By 

T. Moore - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Do We Say It?: The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I enjoy knowing about the origins of phrases and the price was right. I should have saved my money as this book, while having some interesting information, never seems to have the phrases that I pull it off the shelf to check. I was disappointed.