Common Phrases: And the Amazing Stories Behind Them

by Max Cryer

In day-to-day speech we use words and phrases without a passing thought as to why we use them or where they come from. Max Cryer changes all that by showing how fascinating the English language really is. Did you know that the former host of Today, Jane Pauley, claims to have coined the term “bad hair day,” or that a CBS engineer named Charley Douglass invented the name and use of “canned laughter” for television, or that “cold turkey” as a term for quitting something immediately was popularized by the novel and movie (starring Frank Sinatra), The Man with the Golden Arm? Here you’ll learn the origins of “credibility gap,” “my lips are sealed,” “the opera’s not over until the fat lady sings,” “supermarket,” “supermodel,” “there’s no accounting for taste,” “thick as thieves,” and hundreds more. For anyone who loves language, this new book will “take the cake.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

John Maxwell Cryer MBE born1935/1936.

Pioneering entertainer in New Zealand television, Max Cryer was also an author of several non-fiction books. Cryer topped the New Zealand non-fiction best-seller list three times (2001, 2002 and 2012). Besides New Zealand, his books have also been published in Australia, United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, Germany and Russia.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

A somewhat underwhelming collection of phrases, many that are not particularly common outside of New Zealand (the author's home) or at the very least in the United States. I was also disappointed to see that many of the explanations were based on hearsay, or even a shrug of the shoulders and an "I don't actually know" rather than a real origin.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly uneven in style and substance, but worth reading for anyone interested in etymology and the development of language. The author has excluded the Bible and (except for a brief afterward) Shakespeare as sources because of the extent of their influences upon English. Dickens figures prominently ('a spade a spade', 'boredom').

There's a phrase for that: 'Planned Obsolescence': the deliberate limiting of product lifespan.

Favorite word: omphaloskepsis 'navel gazing'.

[Mike Glaser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice background on many everyday phrases. An interesting diversion.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at how a vast number of phrases made it into our speech and became common. Some passages seemed to have more information than felt relevant or necessary, while I would have liked to see more with others. There were also a handful of "common phrases" I had never heard of, but it was still interesting to learn about them. Overall a quick and easy read of the history behind these phrases.

[Blog on Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps more than we realize, our use of language is completely riddled with catch phrases that ordinary folks often take for granted, yet due to their often peculiar nature, should elicit questions about their often times unlikely origins.

"A-OK," "bite the dust," "get a life," "mumbo jumbo" and "Elvis has left the building" are just a few of thousands of expressions that people use everyday, often without having the foggiest idea (there's another one!) of where these phrases actually originated. (or, frankly, many times, what they really mean.)

In "Common Phrases: ... and the Amazing Stories Behind Them," author Max Cryer goes on the hunt to track down hundreds of these common phrases, discovering origins ranging in chronology from Shakespeare to Sarah Palin (a sacrilege, you betcha!) and everything in between. Unlike many phraseology resources, Cryer goes, in many cases, beyond the originating moment of a particular word or phrase, to elucidate additional uses of the terms when those uses are the ones actually responsible for the expanded or common use of the verbiage in question.

Rather than give away the derivation of some of the most common wordplays of modern English (not the band), we decided to give you a little quiz to test your phraseology knowledge. Can you match the phrase with its originator?

1) It's Greek to me.
2) Global village
3) The domino effect
4) If it ain't broke, don't fix it
5) Cold War
a) George Orwell
b) Shakespeare
c) Bert Lance
d) Dwight Eisenhower
e) Marshall McLuhan

Answers: 1) b, 2) e, 3) d, 4) c, 5) a.

[Todd Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests Common Phrases details the source of many phrases found in everyday language. Though more of a reference book than a novel, the book can be read cover to cover and since each phrase is detailed in a paragraph or two, is easy to pick up and put down.

Max Cryer lives in New Zealand and has worked in London, so a number of the phrases are perhaps more common in European vernacular than in the US. Except for the selection of phrases that I’d never heard of (and these can be skipped over if you so desire), the book is otherwise interesting and enjoyable.

[Kevin McAllister · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this book clearly demonstrates there are hundreds, if not thousands, of common phrases we use all the time with little or no knowledge of where they come from. Come to think of it, "little or no knowledge" is itself a common phrase, as is "come to think of it". If you're curious as to how some of these phrases originated, "then by all means", "give this book a go". By all means and give it a go. Yeah, I know two more common phrases. Sorry, "I couldn't help myself". "I could go on and on" ...

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Semper in absentes felicior aestus amantes.

Malo nodo malus quaerendus cuneus.

Kikazaru, Iwazaru, Mizaru.

It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.

My lips are sealed. Clams take my correspondence course.

Selden moseth the marbelston that men ofte treden.

[Adam Bricker · Rating 1 out of 5]

The phrases weren't that common and the stories definitely were not amazing. I didn't even bother finishing this book.