Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Advanced
Title details for Red Herrings & White Elephants by Albert Jack - Available

Red Herrings & White Elephants

by Albert Jack
ebook
Read a sample Read a sample
The international bestseller. "Amusing and informative . . . [takes] you on a trip through the most fascinating and richest regions of the English language." —Knutsford Guardian (UK)
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 & 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 Ps and Qs to pulling out all the stops, Red Herrings & White Elephants is an essential handbook for language-lovers of all ages.
Expand title description text
Publisher: HarperCollins

Kindle Book

  • Release date: December 15, 2023

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780061835155
  • Release date: December 15, 2023

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780061835155
  • File size: 1014 KB
  • Release date: December 15, 2023

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Writing Language Arts Nonfiction

Languages

English

The international bestseller. "Amusing and informative . . . [takes] you on a trip through the most fascinating and richest regions of the English language." —Knutsford Guardian (UK)
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 & 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 Ps and Qs to pulling out all the stops, Red Herrings & White Elephants is an essential handbook for language-lovers of all ages.
Expand title description text
Writing Language Arts Nonfiction