What do you think?
Rate this book
Why do we say that?
Book by Donaldson, Graham, Setterfield, Sue
- GenresNonfiction
96 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 1986
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 25, 2015
Interesting collection of sayings and their origins, illustrated with OK cartoons.
Ranges from the familiar:
Baker's Dozen - an extra loaf added by bakers to guard against accusations their loaves might be underweight
Red Herring - dragging a herring across a fox trail to divert the hounds
to the surprising:
Back to square one - a way for soccer commentators on radio to indicate where the action was on the pitch by dividing it up into numbered squares. The goalie was in square one.
The ones I found most interesting were the ones which were fresh to me:
Eavesdropping - lurkers listening to conversations under the shelter of the eaves. The drop referred to the line outside of which rain fell
Possession is nine points of the law - there were nine points of the law, worth listing, I think:
1. A lot of money
2. A lot of patience
3. A good cause
4. A good lawyer
5. A good counsel
6. Good witnesses
7. A good jury
8. A good judge
9. Good luck!
Pop goes the weasel - this is a beauty. It relates to the nursery rhyme: 'Up and down the City Road; In and out the Eagle; That's the way the money goes; Pop goes the weasel!' The Eagle is a pub, popular with the hatmaking fraternity. When they needed more money for drink, they pawned (popped) one of their tools of trade, a weasel. Fantastic!
I was surprised how many sayings had a nautical origin:
Not enough room to swing a cat - the cat being a cat-o-nine tails
Between the devil and the deep blue sea - that awkward position at the gunwhale supporting the cannon on a man-o-war
To go on strike - bring the sails down - ship no go
Swinging the lead - to determine depth, lazy sailors swung it many times to take one reading
On your beam ends - the cross members of a wooden ship, so if it goes on its side it's on its beam ends
Ship shape and Bristol fashion - ships out of Bristol went far and into the unknown, so they had to be well prepared with everything in good working order.
Ranges from the familiar:
Baker's Dozen - an extra loaf added by bakers to guard against accusations their loaves might be underweight
Red Herring - dragging a herring across a fox trail to divert the hounds
to the surprising:
Back to square one - a way for soccer commentators on radio to indicate where the action was on the pitch by dividing it up into numbered squares. The goalie was in square one.
The ones I found most interesting were the ones which were fresh to me:
Eavesdropping - lurkers listening to conversations under the shelter of the eaves. The drop referred to the line outside of which rain fell
Possession is nine points of the law - there were nine points of the law, worth listing, I think:
1. A lot of money
2. A lot of patience
3. A good cause
4. A good lawyer
5. A good counsel
6. Good witnesses
7. A good jury
8. A good judge
9. Good luck!
Pop goes the weasel - this is a beauty. It relates to the nursery rhyme: 'Up and down the City Road; In and out the Eagle; That's the way the money goes; Pop goes the weasel!' The Eagle is a pub, popular with the hatmaking fraternity. When they needed more money for drink, they pawned (popped) one of their tools of trade, a weasel. Fantastic!
I was surprised how many sayings had a nautical origin:
Not enough room to swing a cat - the cat being a cat-o-nine tails
Between the devil and the deep blue sea - that awkward position at the gunwhale supporting the cannon on a man-o-war
To go on strike - bring the sails down - ship no go
Swinging the lead - to determine depth, lazy sailors swung it many times to take one reading
On your beam ends - the cross members of a wooden ship, so if it goes on its side it's on its beam ends
Ship shape and Bristol fashion - ships out of Bristol went far and into the unknown, so they had to be well prepared with everything in good working order.
October 28, 2019
Interesting and exciting.
Also clarifies a few things commonly misunderstood.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Also clarifies a few things commonly misunderstood.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews