Publication Date:October 8, 2004 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days Shipping:International shipping available Condition:We ship daily from the United Kingdom
Good funFebruary 15, 2008 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Albert Jack's books have been unfavourably compared with Michael Quinion's 'Port Out, Starboard Home'. I have books by both authors. Jack's are well thumbed "bog books" - perfect for passing the time in the lav. Quinion's lies largely unread in a cupboard.
Quinion's is almost certainly the more accurate and learned. But it's so dull. His approach tends to be to dismiss the wonderful folk tales around words and phrases in a very superior way before confessing he doesn't really have a better explanation.
Jack doesn't let the facts get in the way of a good tale and he presents a much more entertaining read.
The choice is simple - if you want a few funny tall tales to entertain a group of mates in the pub, buy Jack. If you want to be the lonely pedant in the corner muttering "well that's not strictly accurate" get a copy of Quinion.
Amusing readJuly 14, 2007 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Quite a fun read overall. Some of the research is lacking, for example about Nero Playing His Fiddle While Rome Burned. It seems he was 50 miles away when it burned but more importantly (and this is not in the book) the fiddle was not invented in Roman times....a simple google search shows that. Anyway it fills those quiet moments of reflection in the little room.
Amusing.... ly poor.April 14, 2007 4 out of 6 found this review helpful
The dust jacket claims that the author of Red Herrings and White Elephants has "a passion for solving the mysteries of the English language". Well, a linguistic Morse he is not. While some definitions and etymologies are approaching accurate, there are so many errors that any claim for authority is laughable. Some of the real howlers include the hugely convoluted, inaccurate and illogical exposition of "flog a dead horse", along with a seriously odd reading of "raining cats and dogs", which includes the assertion that the phrase "raining dogs and polecats" is an explicit allusion to nautical terminology without any supporting evidence. The generally slapdash approach reaches its zenith with the invokation of Hindu sacred pigs in "bite the bullet", and the book therafter tails off into banality and whimsy. If the writing were lively and engaging then I might recommend it, but that isn't the case. Don't waste your money.
Fascinating and great fun - very hard to put downDecember 6, 2006 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I could not disagree more with the reviewer below. I also bought this book as a present and have read it (carefully!) myself all the way through, and got 2 more copies for others. The author must have spent ages and ages on research! This is a book aimed at a general audience - it isn't written for experts; but I have a strong interest in history and I find it eminently readable. No doubt there are a few areas in which his assertions are a bit over-confident but since this isn't a treatise, more light-hearted entertainment, I think it is silly to quibble. Have a look at the excerpt for yourself and make up your mind - if you like what you see, you won't regret buying it as it's the same sort of thing all the way through. Highly recommended.
Dull, ill researched and lameMarch 17, 2006 5 out of 11 found this review helpful
A truly terrible book. To take what could have been a really interesting and amusing subject and turn out a book of so few facts and clearly little research is a triumph of marketing over content. Would have given it no stars if that was an option. The number of second hand versions on sale tells all..
