Customer Reviews

The Word Detective: Solving the Mysteries Behind Those Pesky Words and Phrases

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It's not often we find a "reference" book that delivers on the promise of its title and entertains at the same time. "The Word Detective" provides information on word and phrase origins and debunks myths about them. "Posh," for instance, isn't an acronym for "port out, starboard home." "Sabotage" wasn't coined as a result of French workers tossing their wooden shoes (sabots) into machinery. And "Welsh Rarebit" is a corruption of "Welsh Rabbit," not the other way around.

Morris's writing style combines scholarship with a wonderful sense of humor. Asked what the pundits think about a word, he replies, "I don't know that the pundits think. I had to get rid of them last week. Just the cost of pundit chow was bankrupting me, and their constant chattering was unbearable." Asked about the word "jackpot," Morris writes, "The first jackpot? Why, that would be the ill-fated Great Babylonian Pottery Lottery of 420 B.C., in which the first prize was six hundred pickled sheep packed into an enormous urn ninety Crullers (about seventy feet) tall. I understand they're still trying to catch up with the winner."

This isn't to say that the readers don't get actual, accurate answers. Morris, whose parents were the famous word experts, authors and editors William and Mary Morris, may know as much or more about word origins as anyone writing today... It's a delight from beginning to end.

I had been a big fan of Evan Morris's Word Detective web site and was thrilled to see that this book had come out. It's laugh-out-loud funny, AND you also get all your questions answered! (Like where "posh" came from--no, it DOESN'T mean "port out, starboard home." Or like "sideburns.") Really different than all those dull-as-dishwater reference books out there. I was also intrigued by the long (and hilarious) introduction, "Sticky Dimes," about how Evan Morris got started in the family business. (His father and mother were editors and dictionary-writers.)

Plus the book itself is SO cute, inside and out. It's a chunky little detective office.

O.K., I'm done now -- I HIGHLY recommend this book, either for yourself or as a gift. (But you'll probably want to keep it once you see it.)

This educational, entertaining and delightful volume provides well-researched answers to interesting questions about the meaning, origin and usage of some of today's most perplexing words and phrases.

Compiled from material taken from the author's newspaper and Internet column by the same name, The Word Detective is an informative, witty, charming and fun reference for word lovers, trivia enthusiasts and armchair etymologists alike.

Organized alphabetically, irreverently written and often whimsically illustrated, each entry untangles the histories and debunks the myths behind words like jeep, sabotage, busboy and gringo, and phrases like "cup of joe," "armed to the teeth" and "pickled as an owl". You will be thoroughly informed, at the same time that you are smiling, chuckling or laughing with each explanation.

Special sections that explore related groups of words and phrases like euphemisms, metaphors, eponyms and figures of speech, among others, are also included.

A bibliography and a list of web sites devoted to words and language, especially useful to those interested in pursuing the subject further, are also added at the back of the book.

Overall, this book combines the perfect amount of humor and instruction to insure the reader a pleasurable and rewarding experience.

--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

A collection of lively & unusual questions & answers about the lore & laws of language. From students in word disputes with professors to relatives feuding over esoteric phrases.

From everyday eponyms to a Drinkers' Dictionary; from ludicrous euphemisms to animal metaphors; from bizarre figures of speech to onomatopoeic orations, this writer's humorous & twisted trains of thought not only show how a phrase was originally used & what a word meant, it will show you how much fun our language really is.

A wordsmith after my own heart, Evan Morris, applies his free-roaming brain cells to not only come up with plausible answers, he makes the discovery funny! An excellent gift idea - especially for your throne room!

If you are curious about how a phrase like "soup to nuts" originated, then this is the book for you. Great fun to read. Highly recommended.

The local paper used to print his column and then I discovered him online. I have, at least two, of his books and they are a great read. If you are even curious about Etymology, this is where to start. Evan has a unique history himself and a great sense of humor. I would recommend any of his books to anyone that is even remotely interested in word origins. [...]

A simple review of this book is "I love it". If you have any interest at all in word origins this is a great little book for you. Evan Morris breaks it down in a funny, easy-to-understand way. His book made me think about phrases I use occasionally that I had never put any thought into how they came to exist. I really enjoyed this book and it sent me to the library to find some similar books and I would definitely recommend his website as well. It has sparked a thirst for 'word knowledge'.

The Word Detective is Evan Morris' newspaper column and web site, devoted to finding out where different words and phrases originate. This book is a collection of his columns, but basically reads like a dictionary of curious sayings.

Morris has a light, humorous tone, which makes reading this book a fun experience. Well, if you read through the book at one sitting, you'll probably get a bit tired of his mock replies, followed by "just kidding, here's the real thing". Still, I like his style.

What comes to the content, the book is indeed a nice collection of strange words and phrases, explained usually in a rather satisfying way. Any etymology fans should definitely read this book, unless they've been closely following Morris' column and web site.