Del Norte Public Library

"An individual collection of phrases, fancied by the author because of their place in our language, this sometimes goes back 2,000 years for the original practice, and gives an. . . account of the altering of meanings, and clues by which he traced the story of the sayings."

Thirty common English phrases, such as "a chip off the old block" and "cry over spilled milk" are illustrated and explained.

"Four-in-one volume of Dictionary of word and phrase origins" which includes vols. 1-3 previously published 1962-1972.

Rhyming text and illustrations introduce a variety of collective nouns such as a "drift of swans" and a "clutch of eggs.".

Explains and gives examples of over 900 literary terms.

Fables and commonplace phrases originate from the need to articulate concepts and circumstances that defy conventional phraseology. Evolving from both written and spoken sources (though more commonly from the latter), they bring together words, names, and expressions that have cultural resonance. These volumes provide ample documentation of such terms in the English language, citing both origin and common usage. Beyond simple definitions, the works...

Pictures of common objects and the parts of which they are composed, classed under general categories such as living things, transportation, and personal items, are identified by name.

Demonstrates that logic is sometimes absent from the standard deviations in English usage and how language secrets are revealed in winks, allusions, sighs, and giggles

In The Language of Food, Stanford University professor and MacArthur Fellow Dan Jurafsky peels away the mysteries from the foods we think we know. Thirteen chapters evoke the joy and discovery of reading a menu dotted with the sharp-eyed annotations of a linguist. Jurafsky points out the subtle meanings hidden in filler words like "rich" and "crispy," zeroes in on the metaphors and storytelling tropes we rely on in restaurant reviews, and charts...

English is filled with curious, intriguing and bizarre phrases. This book reveals the surprising, captivating and even hilarious origins behind 400 of them.