Balderdash & Piffle: One Sandwich Short of a Dog's Dinner

by Alex Games, Victoria Coren (Foreword)

The stories behind our most intriguing words and phrases Follows the success of the first Balderdash and Piffle book, which went to Number One on Amazon and sold over 30,000 copies to the consumer The accompanying BBC television series attracted an average of 2.7 million viewers, with peak ratings reaching 3.4 million The new 8-part series of Balderdash & Piffle begins in April Balderdash & Piffle: One Sandwich Short of a Dog's Dinner is a thrilling ride through the provocative, bewildering, and often downright bizarre world of language and etymology. From the brash jargon of celebrity magazines to the delicacies and feints of the euphemism, author and word-sleuth Alex Games has uncovered the remarkable stories that lie behind some of our best-loved words and expressions. By grouping words into distinct themes—such as put downs and insults, the vocab of fashionistas, and the lingo of dodgy dealings—Balderdash & Piffle looks at the English language in a fresh and revealing light. Who was the original Jack the Lad? What is the tragic story behind the expression Sweet F.A.? Balderdash & Piffle will show you where thugs come from, why ‘barmy’ once had more to do with your beer than your brain, and how a little bit of ‘hanky-panky’ could literally work magic. From the ‘Cloud-cuckoo-land’ of Aristophanes to the town of Balaclava, this is a funny but rigorously researched account of English words and their origins. Drawing together sources as diverse as William Shakespeare, David Cameron, and the Burnham-on-Sea Gazette, Alex Games recalls the trends, innovations, and scandals that have produced some of our most familiar but least explored words and phrases. Accompanying a brand new series of the hit BBC show Balderdash & Piffle—and containing all the results of the ‘Wordhunt’ from the first series—this entertaining book is a treasure trove for English-language lovers everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Reference, Humor, History, Linguistics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2006

Reviews

[The Book Queen]

An interesting and sometimes humorous look at language and etymology.

[Nigel McFarlane]

Gadsbudlikins! Now I have a new favourite word!

[Theediscerning]

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.

[Peter Harris]

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.

[John Appleton]

An interesting trawl through etymologies of English words, split into thematic sections. Perhaps a little too heavy on its reliance on the OED rather than Chambers or Collins, but enlightening nonetheless.

[Ibrahim Abdullah]

Made me laugh my arse off.

[Saint No Stopping Us]

Five out of ten.

The stories behind the words and phrases we use every day. Interesting as a reference.

[Margaret Smith]

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.

[Paul]

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.

[Alexander Mynzak]

Почалось цікаво, але закінчилось форматом етимологічного словника

[Brittany]

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

[Ashleigh]

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!

[Sarah]

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.

[Meagan]

I 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.

[Claire]

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!

[Sharice]

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.

[Sydne]

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.

[Tom Latham]

Origins of the English language.

[Lynne]

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!

[Rachel]

Lots of entertaining stories about words.

[Roland]

I took my time but it is brilliant

[Sahir D'souza.]

I remember thinking of this book as funny, especially the bad-word chapter.

[M]

Like this review!

[Tracey Sinclair]

Enormously engaging trawl through the English language, written with a light, witty touch.

[Beatriz]

Very interesting book, full of historical facts about the English language and funny life journeys of words.

[Quiver]

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.

[Eamonn]

Very informative!