Eileen G. (eg) reviewed Why You Say It : The Fascinating Stories Behind Over 600 Everyday Words and Phrases on + 186 more book reviews
Etymologists will love this, and regular people too!
Leo T. reviewed Why You Say It : The Fascinating Stories Behind Over 600 Everyday Words and Phrases on + 1775 more book reviews
I obtained this for the bookshelf at the old soldiers and sailors' home and find it excellent for passing some time. It is not a scholarly book, i.e. there are not footnotes allowing one to follow up on Mr. Garrison's sources but he writes well. Entries are roughly grouped into nineteen chapters (such as The Great Outdoors, Making Fun of Others, and Stories To Be Taken With a Grain of Salt). There are no illustrations.
"Bush League. Any sparsely settled area aside from a desert is likely to abound in bushes and trees. Not simply in modern times, but for many centuries, urban dwellers have been prone to look down their noses at bush country. Small cities in such areas cannot pay the freight in order to have major league baseball teams. A minor confederation is the best that such a place can afford. Spreading from baseball talk, even if located in the heart of Manhattan, a small enterprise is likely to be disparged as 'bush league.'"
The Catbird Seat is attributed to 'Red Barber's poker table.' My dad used it when playing out a good hand in Contract Bridge. I disagree with the term 'rodeo' being attributed to a 1916 event; as a child of the Southwest I imagine it was interchangeable with 'roundup' even a century earlier.
Lead Pipe Cinch, Cat In a Bag....
Index, bibliography.
"Bush League. Any sparsely settled area aside from a desert is likely to abound in bushes and trees. Not simply in modern times, but for many centuries, urban dwellers have been prone to look down their noses at bush country. Small cities in such areas cannot pay the freight in order to have major league baseball teams. A minor confederation is the best that such a place can afford. Spreading from baseball talk, even if located in the heart of Manhattan, a small enterprise is likely to be disparged as 'bush league.'"
The Catbird Seat is attributed to 'Red Barber's poker table.' My dad used it when playing out a good hand in Contract Bridge. I disagree with the term 'rodeo' being attributed to a 1916 event; as a child of the Southwest I imagine it was interchangeable with 'roundup' even a century earlier.
Lead Pipe Cinch, Cat In a Bag....
Index, bibliography.
