53 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Red Herrings and White Elephants
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Red Herrings and White Elephants (Hardcover)

by Albert Jack (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


1 new from £9.00 49 used from £0.01 3 collectible from £5.00
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 11 used & new from £7.88

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   African Red Sale opens new browser window
SupaPrice.co.uk/African+Red  -  Save big on African Red. African Red up to 82% off! 
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep: The Origins of Even More Phrases We Use Every Day

Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep: The Origins of Even More Phrases We Use Every Day

by Albert Jack
4.2 out of 5 stars (5)  £5.04
March Hares and Monkeys' Uncles: Origins of the Words and Phrases We Use Every Day

March Hares and Monkeys' Uncles: Origins of the Words and Phrases We Use Every Day

by Harry Oliver
3.2 out of 5 stars (4)  £5.16
Black Cats and April Fools

Black Cats and April Fools

by Harry Oliver
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £6.46
That's Bollocks!: Urban Legends, Conspiracy Theories and Old Wives' Tales

That's Bollocks!: Urban Legends, Conspiracy Theories and Old Wives' Tales

by Albert Jack
1.5 out of 5 stars (4)  £5.90
Port Out, Starboard Home

Port Out, Starboard Home

by Michael Quinion
3.2 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Metro Books,London (8 Oct 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1843581299
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843581291
  • Product Dimensions: 18.4 x 11.8 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 19,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #7 in  Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauri > Usage Guides
    #28 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Hobbies & Games > Puzzles & Quizzes > Quiz Questions

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

Bold as brass, cold feet, cock and bull, off the cuff, red herrings and white elephants. We use these phrases every day and yet have only the vaguest idea of where many of them come from. The origins of hundreds of common phrases are explained in this irreverent journey through the most fascinating and richest regions of the English language. Once you've read one, you'll be diving back in to look up all the others. Red Herrings is full of amazing definitions that take us all over the world, including military traditions and famous people who lent their names to describe familiar situations. From the drop of a hat to the bitter end - you'll never speak English in the same way again.


About the Author

Albert Jack is a writer and researcher in pop culture whose favourite phrase is 'doolally'. He is 39 years old and has two children.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(2)
(3)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Red Herrings and White Elephants
39% buy the item featured on this page:
Red Herrings and White Elephants 3.5 out of 5 stars (11)
Red Herrings and White Elephants
32% buy
Red Herrings and White Elephants 3.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£5.48
Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep: The Origins of Even More Phrases We Use Every Day
17% buy
Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep: The Origins of Even More Phrases We Use Every Day 4.2 out of 5 stars (5)
£5.04
Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes
8% buy
Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes 4.4 out of 5 stars (9)
£7.17
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
117 of 131 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A poor entry in the market, 15 Dec 2004
By Louise Dore - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I had a flick through this the other day and in those few seconds I spotted two entries which simply repeated folk etymologies have been discredited in other texts. This is the linguistic equivalent of publishing a book full of urban legends as true tales!

By the author's own admission this book was put together simply to cash in on the Christmas/casual purchase market, and it shows in its sloppy research. If you, or your gift-recipient, are genuinely interested in the history of words and phrases, I would suggest Michael Quinion's far superior 'Port Out, Starboard Home'. It may not be piled high by the tills in your local bookshop, but you'll be well rewarded for seeking it out.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and great fun - very hard to put down, 6 Dec 2006
I could not disagree more with the reviewer below. I also bought this book as a present and have read it (carefully!) myself all the way through, and got 2 more copies for others. The author must have spent ages and ages on research! This is a book aimed at a general audience - it isn't written for experts; but I have a strong interest in history and I find it eminently readable. No doubt there are a few areas in which his assertions are a bit over-confident but since this isn't a treatise, more light-hearted entertainment, I think it is silly to quibble. Have a look at the excerpt for yourself and make up your mind - if you like what you see, you won't regret buying it as it's the same sort of thing all the way through.
Highly recommended.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good fun, 15 Feb 2008
By Maltravers (Berkshire, UK) - See all my reviews
Albert Jack's books have been unfavourably compared with Michael Quinion's 'Port Out, Starboard Home'. I have books by both authors. Jack's are well thumbed "bog books" - perfect for passing the time in the lav. Quinion's lies largely unread in a cupboard.

Quinion's is almost certainly the more accurate and learned. But it's so dull. His approach tends to be to dismiss the wonderful folk tales around words and phrases in a very superior way before confessing he doesn't really have a better explanation.

Jack doesn't let the facts get in the way of a good tale and he presents a much more entertaining read.

The choice is simple - if you want a few funny tall tales to entertain a group of mates in the pub, buy Jack. If you want to be the lonely pedant in the corner muttering "well that's not strictly accurate" get a copy of Quinion.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Herrings
I found the book Red Herrings and white elephants very entertaining, good to know where a lot of "saying" come from.
I had bought the book for my husband... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Tweetee Pie

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor
I cannot believe this was commited to print. Rolls out the usual and false definition of 'brass monkey'. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. D. H. Woolford

3.0 out of 5 stars Amusing read
Quite a fun read overall. Some of the research is lacking, for example about Nero Playing His Fiddle While Rome Burned. Read more
Published on 14 Jul 2007 by Geoffrey Webb

2.0 out of 5 stars Amusing.... ly poor.
The dust jacket claims that the author of Red Herrings and White Elephants has "a passion for solving the mysteries of the English language". Read more
Published on 14 April 2007 by J. B. Chapman

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull, ill researched and lame
A truly terrible book. To take what could have been a really interesting and amusing subject and turn out a book of so few facts and clearly little research is a triumph of... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2006 by critique

5.0 out of 5 stars Quriky
I bought one of these books as a present for my brother,however I thumbed it so much before wrapping it that I didn't give it to him in the end. Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2005 by Mrs. T. A. Mayes

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!
I'd wanted this book for ages, as with a family that now live all over the country, I needed to translate their little sayings! Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2005 by Linsey

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastically Entertaining
I picked this book up off the shelf in our local book shop and was immediately hooked. It is full of fascinating and entertaining information about some of our most common idioms... Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2005 by Andrew Oliver

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject












i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.