The Little Book of Answers

by doug-lennox

book

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, History, Adult

100 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the concept was interesting, the actual outcome was disappointing. Given the title, I was wondering why it is such a little book? I’m sure there can be more questions and answers. Also, most answers can be found searching the internet. For those who want a pocket book with ready answers instead of searching online, it can be fun, but otherwise, not very original or necessary.

[Bridget Maguire-Colton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fast read, but not entirely accurate. As it was written in 2003, I feel some of the research must have been lacking. There are at least two instances, where the answers are flat-out wrong.

[Sanjukta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read and I skipped some topics which I do not enjoy so much. I expected more insights on other contemporary issues, not having realized the purpose and year of the book’s publication.

[Cheryl Gatling]

This is a fun little book. The tidbits of information are bite-sized, each question and answer a single paragraph. I learned a number of things that I shared with my friends. "Did you know...?" There was only one problem with it. The answers weren't always correct. I looked up some of them on other sources, and found different, or more complex, answers. So this book may not give you the definitive answer to the questions inside it, but it will give you one of the popular explanations floating around out there, and that is worth something. Plus, it's fun.

[Patricia Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this little book with many tidbits of random information. would be a great book to put in the bathroom to read when you just want to read something without linking it together. great pick up and put down book. liked the different chapters. something for everyone.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

   I got this book through a white elephant exchange – a bit ironic considering the question of where the term “white elephant” came from is also answered in this book – and quite enjoyed reading it. It is full of fun facts (not factoids – you’ll see how factoids got their name/what they are in this book, too!), and odd little tidbits of history, language, culture, and more that you might never have thought to question. Like golf – you know why it’s called that? It’s actually an acronym for a “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden” club, where when the men started playing a new sport hitting a ball around the greens, the sport took on the name of the club: GOLF. If only they knew how many women play golf now…
   Some of the information seems a bit outdated, as there were a couple answers here and there where recent research has changed what we know now from what we knew when Mr. Lennox was researching this book, but that does not make it any less enjoyable of a light, easy read. (On a completely different note, one part that had me confused was in the answer for where “turn the tables” comes from: it comes from a sudden recovery in chess by a losing player, then it went on a tangent to mention how it is impossible to double the number of coins on each square of a chessboard – I’m not sure what that had to do with “turn the tables” other than tying back into chess!) It was a good book to end 2019 with, as it kept me learning until the very end of the decade – and how I want to continue into 2020!

[Jo Powers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting factoids, one (at least) glaring error. On page 16, Lennox states Daniel Emmett, who apparently wrote Dixie, the anthem of the Confederate States, was a "Northern Black man." He was from Ohio all right, but there is nothing that states he was Black. As a matter of fact, his father was in state politics and, while this wouldn't necessarily prove that he was White, it would certainly take some understanding voters in the 1800s.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! It had a lot of really interesting and surprising facts in it. From the history of wakes to the origins of the expression “brand new,” this book is full of little pieces of information about things you have wondered, and things you haven’t! This little book is perfect for anyone who likes to ask a lot of questions!

[James Simms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone suggested we could find all these "Bite size chunks of wisdom" on the Internet and that no doubt is true but these are fascinating and well organized. They make for very challenging Table Topics questions for a Toastmaster meeting.

[Anne Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doug Lennox compiled little nuggets of fun facts from his radio series to produce his book, The Little Book of Answers. It is a quick, fun read that could possibly help on trivia nights. I enjoyed it and recommend it as light reading.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has some interesting tidbits.

[Matt Gwynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun read! I love random facts and trivia, but I rarely read entire books about them. However, this one pleasantly surprised me and was a lot of fun!

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, coffee table/bathroom book of trivia - lots of little facts and stories about terminology that is still currently in use - great gift or conversation starter

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting tidbits.

[Andy Polizzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book of facts, enjoy!

[Brittney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up from one of those special tables at Barnes and Noble. Full of lots of great facts and definitely interesting, but I know I won’t remember half of what I read.

[Laurli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun little book!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun little book! It answers such questions as "Why do we call wealthy members of society the "upper crust"? and "Why do paratroopers shout "Geronimo" when they jump from a plane?

[Erick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a small book of answers, as in it attempts to answer questions you may have wondered while taking a shower or driving. Questions like "why do we shake hands when we meet people?" or "why do we cheer by tapping our drinks together at a feast?"

Started off pretty interesting at first. Nothing useful, but decent at what it was supposed to be. Then, towards the middle, some "answers" began to be suspect. Speculations, or straight up wrong. Like the term "gringo" has an origin stemming back to the 1700s, but this book states that it stemmed from the Mexican-American War. Kinda made me question the validity of the other answers. Towards the end, it also got tedious to read because a majority of the questions were just origins of common idioms (or uncommon, since this book was my first time ever hearing of such strange idioms). "Where does the phrase *insert idiom here* come from?" is essentially what the book degraded to. It should have just been a book about the origin of idioms, to be honest.

It's an alright book to read if you're eating, riding the bus, or something, but you might as well just use google and get a reliable source(s) of information for your random, useless questions. You're pretty much wasting your time with this book if you want to actually learn something, because even if you do think you learned something, there's always gonna be the thought in the back of your mind that it might not even be true, considering its track record. Then you just end up looking it up on google to check the soundness, which you should've done in the first place.

2.9/5 lol

[Sande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming. The title didn't quite match the read, because it's really about the origin of well-understood words and expressions. I've read similar collections, and instead of really enjoying half or two thirds, I was engaged on every single entry. Some of my favorites: the origin of croissants or crescent rolls, why prostitutes are called hookers, what we mean by saying "put a sock in it." I was given this book at the ten-year celebration of our local book group.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and fun little book on the origins of sayings/expressions. Really enjoyed reading this, it was recommended by one of my sons, he kept reading outtakes to me and I got intrigued. If you've ever wondered where the expression honeymoon came from or how the ship speed in knots is determined this is the book for you.

[Beth]

The origins of a trophy is disturbing and back to ancient Greece were the dead soldiers parts hung from a tree. As for Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer he could have bee Rollo or Reginald. Not having a clew would be lost without a ball of string. IV schools is still my favorite fact. This book is usually displayed at my family's coffee table this time of year.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and enjoyable book that I received as a Christmas present. It provided short, but thorough explanations of some of those little "hmmm" moments of life. Definitely not an academic work, I recommend it to anyone who enjoys language and its origins and sociology.

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you need some cocktail party conversation? This charming book will provide you with loads of discussion starters. It's full of bite-sized factoids that you can read over time and is interesting to all ages. Lovely.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very short, sweet, and informative book about questions you may have had and questions you never thought of. It really makes you stop and think about the English language. It's a very curious little book.

[Miguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great especially the trivia

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for those, like myself, who enjoy understanding "why" and trivia.

[Roxann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a total sucker for books like this. I just love trivia.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

indeed a brilliant little book....

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't finish it. Stopped halfway. This is a good bathroom book!