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Cassell's Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (Cassell Dictionary Of ...)
 
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Cassell's Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (Cassell Dictionary Of ...) (Paperback)

by Nigel Rees (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; New edition edition (14 Mar 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0304362255
  • ISBN-13: 978-0304362257
  • Product Dimensions: 19 x 13 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 270,775 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #92 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Linguistics > Historical & Comparative Linguistics > Etymology

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Product Description

Product Description
'Why do we say...?' is the question that lies behind every entry in CASSELL'S DICTIONARY OF WORD AND PHRASE ORIGINS. Why do we say a person makes money 'hand over fist' or is the 'spitting image' of someone else? Why do we say 'the full monty' or 'don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs'? These are the sort of questions that conventional dictionaries rarely answer, and that more specialised books all too frequently deal with in a cavalier fashion. This book, by contrast, takes an informed and wide-ranging approach to problems of etymology, challenging a few cherished theories on the way, and coming up with some surprising conclusions.

About the Author
Nigel Rees is the author of over 50 books, including the CASSELL DICTIONARY OF HUMOROUS QUOTATIONS and the CASSELL COMPANION TO QUOTATIONS. He is the deviser and presenter of BBC Radio's QUOTE...UNQUOTE, through which he has become an authority on the popular use of language in slogans, catchphrases, cliches, idioms and quotations.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Is the word "origins" appropriate?, 22 Jan 2009
By Bluecat (Southsea, England) - See all my reviews
The title of this book seems to me to promise a wonderful journey through the history and idiosyncracies of the English language. Unfortunately many of the words and phrases do not actually have their origin listed. for many of them the best you get is a date reference such as "known by 1867".

How is it known by 1867? What is the origin?

Often there is a reference to, but no quote of, a very early usage such as for the phrase "let bygones be bygones" which it is noted "A proverbial expression known in English by 1546, but the thought is expressed by the Greek philosopher Epictetus"

I would like to know how he expressed it and where, when.... Surely if the writer knows enough to give such references it would be possible to go that extra step and quote them. I'd rather have less entries more properly explained.

Still the book is a handy "pick up and peruse a page of it on the loo" type book.
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