Red Herrings and White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day

by Albert Jack

Book Overview

Mad hatter . . . pie in the sky . . . egg on your face. We use these phrases every day, yet how many of us know what they really mean or where they came from?

From bringing home the bacon to leaving no stone unturned, the English language is peppered with hundreds of common idioms borrowed from ancient traditions and civilizations throughout the world. In Red Herrings and White Elephants, Albert Jack has uncovered the amazing and sometimes...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060843373
• ISBN13: 9780060843373
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.8" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Red Herrings & White Elephants

If you have ever wondered where expressions originated this is the perfect book. It's fun!

Get Smarter

This book is a ton of fun. Okay, it may not be the most concise but for what it is it is fun. It was written by the Brits though and so a few of the phrases I've never heard. If you are a know it all, crazy about etymology or you just enjoy oddball trivia books, this book is fun, very informative.

Red Herrings and White Elephants

I love useless knowledge and this gives an ample supply and answers some of those impervious little questions.

So that's where that saying comes from

I find these stories about expressions we use, like giving someone the whole nine yards, absolutely fascinating, and this book has hundreds of them, usefully organized. I even like paging through it for fifteen minutes before going to sleep, like having bite sized short stories. Great source for cocktail party conversation, and might make you seem very learned indeed.

read with a friend nearby

This is not the kind of book that you can just sit down and read. It is absolutely mandatory that you have someone nearby that you can tap on the shoulder and ask if they know what a red herring is or a white elephant. And then minutes later you will be bothering them with another gem that you just have to share. And then you interrupt them yet again with another one. Definitely a fun, interactive book.