Why You Say It: The Fascinating Stories Behind Over 600 Everyday Words and Phrases [Paperback]

Webb Garrison (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1558531289 | ISBN-13: 978-1558531284 | Publication Date: November 1, 1992

The Fascinating stories behind over 600 everyday words and phrases such as...

Shindig - A veteran square dance caller will tell you that bruised shins result from the swigging feet of beginning dancers. A dance that leaves telltale marks on the lower legs of participants is a shindig.

Alibi - The word is taken straight from Latin and means "elsewhere." The perfect "alibi" is to prove one was "elsewhere" when the deed was done.

And many more...

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558531289
• ISBN-13: 978-1558531284
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Webb Garrison, formerly associate dean of Emory University and president of McKendree College, wrote more than 55 books, including Civil War Curiosities and Civil War Trivia and Fact Book. Before his death in 2000, Garrison lived in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Why you say it" is a great trivia resource, April 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Why You Say It: The Fascinating Stories Behind Over 600 Everyday Words and Phrases (Paperback)

If you want to know the origins of 'Once in a blue moon' or 'Here mud in your eye' or countless other phases and words, this is the book for you. The book is a very entertaining resource full of the mundane and arcane roots of common phrases. This is truly the stuff in which trivia games are made.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, but not always as the author intended, March 23, 2003

By 

constantine_reeder (Germantown, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why You Say It: The Fascinating Stories Behind over 600 Everyday Words and Phrases (Hardcover)

The author seems like a nice enough fellow, someone you would enjoy as a dinner speaker. This book is evidently culled from his notecards. Some of his examples are informed, but certainly from secondary or tertiary sources. Others are jaw-dropping speculations based on understandable but wrong-headed idiomatic misreadings. HYMAN KAPLAN enthusiasts will be transfixed, but junior-high researchers and TOEFL-types should steer clear.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why say why?, April 26, 2001

By 

tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Why You Say It (Hardcover)

This book is full of explanations and origins to over 600 words and phrases used in modern English. Unlike many books that examine the origins of words, this book is easy to read and is highly entertaining. Anyone who enjoys trivia will love this and even for those who don't, it's an enjoyable read nonetheless.