Dog Days and Dandelions: A Lively Guide to the Animal Meanings Behind Everday Words

by Martha Barnette

Book Overview

From apian (like a bee) to zodiac (little-animals circle), a word book that spots the animal origins of words and names There are mice in your muscles , and blackbirds in your merlot . Behind adulation is a dog's wagging tail. Peculiar houses a herd of cattle. Grubby is crawling with bugs. Wordhound Martha Barnette collects more than 300 common (and a few not-so-common) words that have surprising animal roots. Tracing word origins back to ancient...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312280726
• ISBN13: 9780312280727
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

making words fun

I had no idea there were blackbirds in my merlot nor horses in all my jaded, hackneyed, tacky everyday observations. What a treat of a book! Of course, not that I was surprised...all Barnette's prior offerings-- the charming Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies and A Garden of Words--are a must-have for writers and readers alike. Anyone who loves words will adore this treasure of a book. I've already learned more than I did in college! And I've just ordered it for three of my friends. Highly recommended.

Beastly fun

Martha Barnette is the best. Few others can enliven dry and obsure facts and information like she can - all her books about words should be required reading for anyone with any aspiration of becoming a writer. And she serves up way more than fodder for cocktail chatter. After reading her, you'll find yourself thinking differently about all the words around you.Check out her website... for a preview.

Lots of Language Fun!

A friend gave me this book, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The author uses linguistic detective work to show us the tracks of all sorts of animal stories hidden inside familiar English words (like the little dog that inspired the word "feisty" and the caterpillar in "chenille"). She also makes it easy to learn some surprising new words. My favorite so far is "chatoyant," which means "shining like a cats' eyes"! It is clear the author loves animals and also loves words. Her delight in both of them is infectious. Like everybody's favorite teacher, she clearly knows a lot about her subject, and communicates it with enthusiasm, plus a great sense of humor. I would recommend this book to any word lover, as well as to anyone else who's naturally curious about animals and the world around us.

Entertaining and Informative!

I was so glad to see that Martha Barnette has a new book out ! I loved her other word books, Ladyfingers & Nun's Tummies and A Garden of Words.In this one, she writes about hundreds of English words that have animals in their history. Many are surprising, to say the least! Reading this book, I learned the stories behind lots of words like "dandelion" and "maverick" and "tacky" that have surprising origins -- all of them involving animals. (I was also very surprised to discover why we call it a "bidet"!!!)As usual, she writes in a very humorous and lighthearted style, which makes learning about language lots of fun. This book would be a great gift for anyone who loves words, or loves animals, or who just wants to expand his or her vocabulary -- while enjoying a lot of laughs and surprises along the way! Highly recommended!