Why Do We Say That? 101 Idioms, Phrases, Sayings & Facts! A Brief History On Where They Come From!

by Scott Matthews

Why do you “call shotgun” when you want the front passenger seat? What does “letting the cat out of the bag” have to do with divulging secrets? Why do you ask people to “cut to the chase”? How come you hear all those juicy rumors “through the grapevine”?
Like many people you’ve probably used idioms or phrases like these without giving them a second thought. But if you were to take a moment to step back and learn about them you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover the mesmerizing and sometimes outright bizarre origins to these fun sayings!

In “Why do we say that,” we have curated 101 of the most regularly used idioms, proverbs, turns of phrases, and colloquial terms that have the most fascinating backstories. For each phrase, we have explained how it was coined, how its use evolved through the ages, and how it gained its contemporary use.

Inside you will discover:

What the sanitary conditions of 17th century London have to do with it’s “raining cats and dogs” today.
Why taking things “with grain of salt” has to do with an ancient remedy for poison.
What Southeast Asian warrior traditions have to do with the term “to run amuck.”
Why “to break a leg” became something worth aspiring to in the Elizabethan theatres.
And many many more
Click the BUY NOW button at the top of the page to unravel the mysteries behind popular English idioms.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Language, Audiobook

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book. I think anyone who likes to read a lot, or is inclined to write stories or poems or novels, or nonfiction of any kind, can’t help but be drawn to explanations of when some of our most common idioms and expressions originated - most are quite old, older than you think.

I knew some of them, but not all. I didn’t get the provenance of “kick the bucket.” Neither will you.

Good fun 🪣☺️

[Jamie Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Phrase Origin Stories

This book is perfect for word nerds (like me!) and anyone who has ever wondered where a particular phrase came from. This book looks at 101 common phrases’ origins. Some are a little gruesome (like “caught red-handed'”); others are steeped in historical events (like “turning a blind eye”); yet others are from law or literature (like “rule of thumb”); surprisingly, several come from ancient market practices. Each phrase has a paragraph about its origins and how it is used today. Above this is a usually humorous black-and-white depiction of the phrase. For every 10 phrases, the author also includes a few fun facts that aren’t related to idiom. I wonder if he came across them while researching this book! Highly recommended if you love words and their origins like me!

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great way to find out where all those sayings we use each day come from.

[Sugarpop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hat Spaß gemacht und es waren ein paar recht interessante Geschichten dabei. Die bilder zu jeder Phrase waren goldig. Hätte mir allerdings bisschen mehr Infos gewünscht.

[Becky Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have always been interested in the origins of funny things we say so when a coworker gave me this book as a gift, I was stoked. Needless to say though, it was less than impressive for me. I felt like most of the idioms used were no brainers. Idioms like “everything but the kitchen sink” and “bull in a china cabinet “ didn’t need much explanation to me. I did like the “Did You Know” pages. They had little known facts on them and are scattered throughout the book. I am still on the hunt for a good source of idioms.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy and quick read. I was expecting a lot more about the history of idioms: more historical tracking, their evolution through time, and examples of earliest times they were ever used. The author does provide the earliest use of some of the phrases. In most cases, he refers to who first coined the phrase and where it can be found, leaving the reader to pause and Google.

This book reads as a grammar or early middle school reference. The passages are short and concise and a good jumping-off point for those who like to dig deeper and explore a subject further. It’d make a fun read for reluctant readers as passages are very short, and it’d be equally as enjoyable for the ones who are always asking, “why?” It also makes for a nice palate cleanser in between more serious reads. I especially liked the little “Did You Know” blurbs the author included at the end of each of the chapters, like these two:

“There’s a 107-acre forest made up of a single tree. The “Trembling Giant” in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest includes over 47,000 quaking aspen trees that share the same root system. Some scientists estimate it’s close to a million years old.”

“The deepest mail box in the world is in a small Japanese fishing town called Susami, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s an old-school red mailbox that’s located thirty-two feet (ten meters) under water, and divers often place waterproof letters there and they are then collected in regular intervals. The mailbox is quite active, as it receives one to five thousand pieces of mail annually.”

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a sample of the genre I read in the past from the past kind of (because I used to read a lot of "fun fact" books & "listicles" as a kids). Like I saw the Bob's your uncle part, and I hoped this would help out with understanding British English more.

Good news is that this book does sometimes give illuminating citations, but it can be hit or miss. For example, there were a lot of stuff that was racist that was either not told or not acknowledged as racist unless it was say intersecting with religion. Also some of the items would give incomplete histories which was annoying as hell, especially since this wasn't a dictionary & it could've been any 101 or other quantity.

[Elisabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

While these stories are interesting, the author of this self-published book gives us no evidence to support his claims. No bibliography. No credentials. No footnotes. Half of these could be urban legends. It might have been written by Chat GPT! In our day of anything-can-be-published, critical thinking and references are more important than ever. Some people study their whole lives to be etymologists; Scott Matthews is not one of them. So I view this book with skepticism and can't finish reading it. I'm actually very disappointed that our library bought it.

There are many better books on the subject from reputable publishers and authors.

[Bonny Soronen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Piece of Cake" :D

I thought the 'Six Benefits of Reading Idioms' thing was a cute touch :) I also appreciate someone taking the time to sit down and explain so many of these. Half the time someone will ask me why I say stuff like 'butter my butt and call me a biscuit', and honestly I stare at them for longer than I should, having no idea how to explain. So thanks to Matthew's I have an easy go-to!! There's also a lot in here that I didn't know myself, so I thoroughly enjoyed reading about each of these.

[Joel Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fun & informative guide to the origins of English phrases. The author explains the direct historical link to the phrases but also very briefly sums the context of the how it came about.
If you love language and are always wanting to know what phrases mean but don't care for heavy historical breakdowns, this book is for you. Though out of the two etymology books I've read recently, I enjoyed Etymologicon by Mark Forsythe more as he injected humour and had a bit of narrative rather than a list of facts, as they're much harder to remember that way.

[Paul Charles Radio Show · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, well researched and was fun to see where the phrases we often use without thinking about originate from

Negatives -This smallish reference book is essentially a list of 101 idioms/sayings and facts and this can be quite concise .Some of the answers were obvious. The book feels a little cheaply produced and illustrated.

Positives - The idioms gives insight into how our ancestors used to live.
Many of the idioms/facts were really fascinating.
An easy light read

[Book Trail ASMR · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know this has an author's name attributed to this book, but it genuinely reads like it was written by AI. Some of the explanations are not explanations at all, it's just breaking down the sentence and phrase to explain what it literally means.

I love words and language and was hoping for more actual history, but a lot of it was just assumptions. I'm going to assume the readership is intended to be a hell of a lot younger than I am, which is fine, because for me, this was a little bit of a waste of time.

[Armanis Ar-Feinial · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to give it a 5 because it is good for what it is. It's a historical preservation, almost etymalogical in nature to common idioms. If you want to know where these sayings come from, this is a good book, but not comprehensive. I would say this is great for elementary level. It is not comprehensive so if you're looking for a dictionary of idioms, you would definitely want to pass over this one because it doesn't have all the idioms in the world on here, or in the USA for that matter.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short considering the number of phrases. Most of the explanations are very brief, making this more suited as a reference book for a young person or someone learning English as a second language. Native English speakers will have worked many of these out for themselves, however there were still quite a number that interested me.

[Annie Capek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and well-researched

A very entertaining collection of historical facts related to expressions we all use and understand,but their origins are generally unknown.A fun read.

[Joanne Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, informative and easy to read

A nice introduction to the world of entymology. Interesting and amusing, suitable for all the family.
The book seemed to end too soon, always a good thing for an author to hear.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and Easy Facts

A short read that races through common phrases and where they came from. Some are obvious, some less so, and some seem a bit suspicious honestly. Overall, an easy read that was mostly enjoyable.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this book, it was interesting and explained things well, I liked the illustrations too. As a parent this book will help to answer questions I probably wouldn't have been able to answer enough to suit my child, so thank you for that!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[King G]

You'll say"Ahhh......now I get it. "

[Tricia Gardella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and well-written.

[Rhannam404 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and interesting facts

So many origins of phrases I would never have guessed where they came from. Very clear explanations. I love reading this type of information.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a super fast read and very interesting! I won’t be able to help myself from recounting the stories of this book when I hear someone use some of these idioms.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these "facts" seemed a little suspect to me, but it was a quick, fun read.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but enjoyable.

[G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alot of cool stuff in here, alot of it seems surprising and cool

There's a couple of things that don't track though

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick & interesting read about language.

[Neal Bombardier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book to read with quick explanations on things we hear/say often.

[AJ Frere · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learnt a lot from this book.

[Jennifer Chappell · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of really interesting explanations in the book. It gave a good amount of context and background but was short and kept interest.

[Aussch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun word nerd book. Made me think more deeply about what I say and why