Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
Red Herrings And White Elephants: The Origins Of The Phrases We Use Every Day
by Jack, Albert
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10
- 1843581299
- ISBN 13
- 9781843581291
- Seller
-
Waltham Abbey, Essex, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Metro Books. Used - Good. Ships from UK in 48 hours or less (usually same day). Your purchase helps support Sri Lankan Children's Charity 'The Rainbow Centre'. Shows some signs of wear but in good overall condition. 100% money back guarantee. We are a world class secondhand bookstore based in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom and specialize in high quality textbooks across an enormous variety of subjects. We aim to provide a vast range of textbooks, rare and collectible books at a great price. Our donations to The Rainbow Centre have helped provide an education and a safe haven to hundreds of children who live in appalling conditions. We provide a 100% money back guarantee and are dedicated to providing our customers with the highest standards of service in the bookselling industry.
Synopsis
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 downright bizarre stories behind many of our most familiar and eccentric modes of expression:If you happen to be a bootlegger, your profession recalls the Wild West outlaws who sold illegal alcohol by concealing slender bottles of whiskey in their boots. If you're on cloud nine, you owe a nod to the American Weather Bureau's classification of clouds, the ninth topping out all others at a mountainous 40,000 feet. If you opt for the hair of the dog the morning after, you're following the advice of medieval English doctors, who recommended rubbing the hair of a dog into the wound left by the animal's bite.A delightful compendium of anecdotes on everything from minding your p's and q's to pulling out all the stops, Red Herrings and White Elephants is an essential handbook for language-lovers of all ages.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Phatpocket Limited
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- Z1-F-057-00886
- Title
- Red Herrings And White Elephants: The Origins Of The Phrases We Use Every Day
- Author
- Jack, Albert
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 1843581299
- ISBN 13
- 9781843581291
- Publisher
- Metro Books
- Place of Publication
- London
- This edition first published
- October 31, 2004
Terms of Sale
Phatpocket Limited
Books are usually shipped in 48 hours or less. All of our books have a 14 day no hassle money back guarantee unless stated otherwise in the book's description. Item must be returned in the exact same condition that it was received. Through our work with The Rainbow Centre and other Charity Partners, we have already given hundreds of young people in Sri Lanka and Africa the vital chance to get an education.
About the Seller
Phatpocket Limited
Biblio member since 2006
Waltham Abbey, Essex
About Phatpocket Limited
Phatpocket Limited is a world class secondhand bookstore located in the Hertfordshire countryside in the United Kingdom. We specialize in textbooks across an enormous variety of subjects. We aim to provide a low cost source of high quality textbooks to the academic community. We also have a sizable collection of rare and collectible books.We are dedicated to providing our customers with the highest standard of customer service in the bookselling business.
Collecting the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and ’70s was an explosive time in American history, and it inspired explosive literature. From Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, Jr., browse some of the most collectible books from and about that era.
Collecting and identifying signed letters and holographic documents
Many authors and other famous literary figures wrote and signed letters by hand, and you can find a great collection of them in the Biblio rare book room. See our great collection of handwritten letters and holographic documents
