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Red Herrings And White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day
by Jack, Albert
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- Like New
- ISBN 10
- 0060843373
- ISBN 13
- 9780060843373
- Seller
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Paperback. Like New.
Synopsis
Mad hatter . . . pie in the sky . . . egg on your face. We use these phrases every day, yet how many of us know what they really mean or where they came from?From bringing home the bacon to leaving no stone unturned, the English language is peppered with hundreds of common idioms borrowed from ancient traditions and civilizations throughout the world. In Red Herrings and White Elephants, Albert Jack has uncovered the amazing and sometimes downright bizarre stories behind many of our most familiar and eccentric modes of expression:If you happen to be a bootlegger, your profession recalls the Wild West outlaws who sold illegal alcohol by concealing slender bottles of whiskey in their boots. If you're on cloud nine, you owe a nod to the American Weather Bureau's classification of clouds, the ninth topping out all others at a mountainous 40,000 feet. If you opt for the hair of the dog the morning after, you're following the advice of medieval English doctors, who recommended rubbing the hair of a dog into the wound left by the animal's bite.A delightful compendium of anecdotes on everything from minding your p's and q's to pulling out all the stops, Red Herrings and White Elephants is an essential handbook for language-lovers of all ages.
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Details
- Bookseller
- World of Books Ltd
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- GOR013575436
- Title
- Red Herrings And White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day
- Author
- Jack, Albert
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- New Like New
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0060843373
- ISBN 13
- 9780060843373
- Publisher
- Harpercollins
- Place of Publication
- New York
- This edition first published
- November 1, 2005
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
World of Books Ltd
Biblio member since 2007
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex
About World of Books Ltd
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- Wob: Through Wob, we sell. We provide affordable, preloved books and media to customers all over the world. A book leaves our collection of over seven million titles and begins a new chapter every two seconds, enabling more goods to be reused.
- Ziffit: Through Ziffit, we buy. We give people around the world the opportunity to contribute to the circular economy, earn money and protect the planet, by trading their unwanted books and media.
- Shopiago: Through Shopiago, we help others. By sharing the technology that has grown World of Books Group into the business it is today, we're helping charities increase revenue and reduce waste through re-commerce.
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