What do you think?
Rate this book
Balderdash & Piffle
Discover the fascinating stories behind the words and phrases we use every day. English is now the world's most popular second language, understood by over 700 million people across the globe. Its use is amazingly broad: not only is it the language of Chaucer and Shakespeare, but also of hip-hop, international business and the internet (over 80% of home pages are in English). So where exactly do English words come from? They come from everywhere. English is a vast, rambling conglomeration of words and phrases from a huge variety of times and places, and every word has its own intriguing history. Balderdash & Piffle is a guidebook—an entertaining look at what falls out of the chaotic family tree of English words when you uproot it and give it a damn good shake. Shaking the tree is writer, humourist and word-sleuth Alex Games. If you've ever wondered who first used 'cuppa' in print, what language gave us 'shampoo', when we started saying 'window', where 'minging' comes from, what Shakespeare had to say about 'geeks' and why 'berk' is really, really rude, you'll find it all (and much more) inside. You'll also have the chance to do your own word-sleuthing, through the BBC Wordhunt appeal. Who knows—if you have written evidence of a 'bouncy castle' from before 1986, you could even re-write history.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 5, 2006
11 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 22, 2016
An interesting and sometimes humorous look at language and etymology.
February 18, 2018
Gadsbudlikins! Now I have a new favourite word!
April 17, 2021
A great read, but loses out on a fifth star from the POV of 2021 as too much refers to how the third edition (still about 13 years away as I write) was turning to an almost open-source approach in finding precedents for word use. This looks back, of course, in showing us the age of what we use in our speech and writing, but it's out of date in showing us how we find out those ages. Still highly entertaining, though.
July 21, 2024
The foreword is wonderful, it really made me want to drive right into the book, actually got me a little excited to learn about the etymology of words. Unfortunately it was a steady downhill from there in my opinion. There’s a bit of a rambling nature to the rest of the book, seemingly coming across words and discussing their origins in a haphazard sort of way which I found made the read a bit boring.
August 15, 2017
Made me laugh my arse off.
February 25, 2020
Five out of ten.
The stories behind the words and phrases we use every day. Interesting as a reference.
April 22, 2022
A very intriguing book and one I found full of surprises. Many words and phrases being younger than I had tbought. A great read for anyone interested in words and language.
May 16, 2022
Quite tedious, written in a very forced witty tone, trying to cram in maximum number of idioms into a paragraph. Only a few dozen idioms are actually explained throughout the whole book. I think I'd rather read an etymology dictionary. The author thinks that anything to do with sex is just uproarious funny. Aimed squarely at the middleclass BBC radio 4 listener. My copy has a dedication from one middle-class couple to another with hopes they will find it equally hilarious.
January 4, 2010
How I Came To Read This Book: I was doing an internship in the Books & Audiobooks department at the BBC UK and I spotted this book in our prizing archives. The nice ladies in my department told me I could snag a copy and bring it home with me, which I gladly did.
The Plot: This book is basically a study of some of our most popular phrases and expressions – a virtual treasure trove of some of the most fascinating stories of etymology out there. It does focus a fair bit on British slang and lingo versus worldwide (or, let’s face it, North American) lingo, but it’s still a fascinating look at how words work their way into our languages.
The Good & The Bad: Again as I said, the British thing makes some of the studies a little bit irrelevant. The thing I appreciated about this book is it doesn’t talk down to you, nor does it try to be too smart – Alex Games has a knack for writing in a way I can best describe as someone coming up to you and saying “Funny story about that one…” I tend to be pretty tough on nonfiction books because I find them much less engaging than fiction books – the challenge for a nonfiction book is that they are extremely targeted to a specific group, while fiction has more universal appeal. Thus, as someone who loves books, words, and makes a living as a writer in some capacity or another, I find a book on etymology fascinating. Games already has me hooked there, but he also manages to make etymology fascinating to someone who only has a marginal knowledge of it and the roots / sources of words (that’s still me).
The Bottom Line: A fascinating look into the words we speak, but best saved for people who care about that sort of thing.
Anything Memorable?: Just my aforementioned anecdote regarding how I came to get this book.
50-Book Challenge?: Nope
The Plot: This book is basically a study of some of our most popular phrases and expressions – a virtual treasure trove of some of the most fascinating stories of etymology out there. It does focus a fair bit on British slang and lingo versus worldwide (or, let’s face it, North American) lingo, but it’s still a fascinating look at how words work their way into our languages.
The Good & The Bad: Again as I said, the British thing makes some of the studies a little bit irrelevant. The thing I appreciated about this book is it doesn’t talk down to you, nor does it try to be too smart – Alex Games has a knack for writing in a way I can best describe as someone coming up to you and saying “Funny story about that one…” I tend to be pretty tough on nonfiction books because I find them much less engaging than fiction books – the challenge for a nonfiction book is that they are extremely targeted to a specific group, while fiction has more universal appeal. Thus, as someone who loves books, words, and makes a living as a writer in some capacity or another, I find a book on etymology fascinating. Games already has me hooked there, but he also manages to make etymology fascinating to someone who only has a marginal knowledge of it and the roots / sources of words (that’s still me).
The Bottom Line: A fascinating look into the words we speak, but best saved for people who care about that sort of thing.
Anything Memorable?: Just my aforementioned anecdote regarding how I came to get this book.
50-Book Challenge?: Nope
July 5, 2013
I've definitely been going through on an English language non-fiction splurge as of late. I picked this book up for 75p; I did watch the TV show, and I loved that so I thought the book would be a good read.
It is basically a collection of some of the most popular expressions and phrases in the English language - it's really a treasure trove of etymology stories! It really does cover a bit of everything - including many a profanity, which is always a bit of entertainment! The one story that sticks in my mind is the origin of the phrase 'Sweet FA' which I sort of knew, but didn't know the gory details!
It was quite a broad sweep over many phrases, rather than a more scholarly, in-depth analysis which was brilliant. It was the book I was taking everywhere with me as I could just read a few origins and put it back in my bag!
& Of course, an introduction by the lovely Victoria Coren always helps!
It is basically a collection of some of the most popular expressions and phrases in the English language - it's really a treasure trove of etymology stories! It really does cover a bit of everything - including many a profanity, which is always a bit of entertainment! The one story that sticks in my mind is the origin of the phrase 'Sweet FA' which I sort of knew, but didn't know the gory details!
It was quite a broad sweep over many phrases, rather than a more scholarly, in-depth analysis which was brilliant. It was the book I was taking everywhere with me as I could just read a few origins and put it back in my bag!
& Of course, an introduction by the lovely Victoria Coren always helps!
June 16, 2011
A very interesting book. I am fascinated by the English language, so much so that I wish I had enough money to do a course. But then if I had enough money to do a course perhaps I would do Theology. I digress.
Anyway, this isn't a scholarly tome but a fun look at the evolution of the English language. Some parts seem a little rushed, but it does provide a broad scope rather than an in depth analysis.
I'd certainly recommend the book, though it does cover profanity and swear words so if you're sensitive to that kind of thing be warned - there's a whole chapter on it.
Anyway, this isn't a scholarly tome but a fun look at the evolution of the English language. Some parts seem a little rushed, but it does provide a broad scope rather than an in depth analysis.
I'd certainly recommend the book, though it does cover profanity and swear words so if you're sensitive to that kind of thing be warned - there's a whole chapter on it.
started-to-read-but-didn-t-finish
February 17, 2012I thought this book sounded delightful, and I have enjoyed books about language in the past. That perhaps, was the trouble. After reading the introduction as a sample chapter on the kindle, I didn't want to keep reading. The light, jovial tone came across as watered-down and condescending rather than charming...I'm sure there are some interesting word anecdotes in Balderdash and Piffle, but I didn't want to hear them in this way.
July 20, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. I enjoy words, language, idioms in general, so this book was well-matched to that interest. It's also well-written, light and entertaining. An enjoyable read for anyone who likes wordplay, puns or scrabble!
July 30, 2011
I really enjoyed this book about the history of the good old English language. This really stimulated an interest in where words come from and their origins. I especially enjoyed the chapter about swearwords as they are such widely used and controversial words.
February 16, 2016
A fireworks of words and description of their meanings. Quite an interesting read, but I couldn't say if I have remembered much- so many stories, so quickly fired after each other. Still interesting though.
June 20, 2007
Origins of the English language.
March 26, 2008
I loved finding out about the origins of the words in the book, words you never thought were as old as they are, modern phrases and where they've come from, it's all highly interesting!
December 16, 2010
Lots of entertaining stories about words.
January 23, 2012
I took my time but it is brilliant
etymology
August 8, 2013I remember thinking of this book as funny, especially the bad-word chapter.
October 19, 2013
Like this review!
August 27, 2016
Enormously engaging trawl through the English language, written with a light, witty touch.
September 14, 2014
Very interesting book, full of historical facts about the English language and funny life journeys of words.
December 31, 2015
More a 4.5 then a 5, but definitely entertaining, informative, and a 5 for managing to deepen further still my love for the language.
July 17, 2020
Very informative!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews