Bees Knees and Barmy Armies - Origins of the Words and Phrases we Use Every Day

by Harry Oliver, Mike Mosedale

Why do we call the best of something 'the bees' knees'? Where did the term 'barmy army' come from? Which 'colours' do we 'nail to the mast'? How are we ever 'dressed to the nines'? Why do we refer to New York as 'The Big Apple'? There are hundreds of phrases that we use on a daily basis without having a clue about where most of them come from. This book is nothing short of a fascinating ride around the greatest language in the world. So stop getting up to skullduggery, take a pew and have a butcher's at this little tome. Learn about your language in one fell swoop and make sure you never get caught red handed using words you don't understand to bark up the wrong tree! This book really is the cat's whiskers. Once you've read one entry, you'll want to read them all!

Genres: Nonfiction, Language

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about origins of phrases. Some of the entries had too much speculation and not enough fact.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

By no means comprehensive but a fun book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fun little read full of fun facts about where many phrases originated.