Red Herrings And White Elephants
Red Herrings And White Elephants

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Metro Publishing

Published: 2007-04-10

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 1782192743

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Have you ever wondered what phrases such as 'square meal', 'load of old codswallop', 'egg on your face' or 'in the limelight' mean? Where do they come from? Have you ever taken a moment to wonder what we say actually means? The origins of hundreds of common phrases are explained in this irreverent journey through the most fascinating and richest regions of the English language. In a book that takes you all over the world, from nautical origins to food and drink terms, once you have learnt one phrase, you will be eager to learn them all! From the drop of a hat to the bitter end - you'll be surprised and intrigued and you'll never speak English in the same way again.

Pop Goes the Weasel
Pop Goes the Weasel

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2009-09-29

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1101162961

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From the international bestselling author of Red Herrings and White Elephants—a curious guide to the hidden histories of classic nursery rhymes. Who was Mary Quite Contrary, or Georgie Porgie? How could Hey Diddle Diddle offer an essential astronomy lesson? Do Jack and Jill actually represent the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette? And if Ring Around the Rosie isn’t about the plague, then what is it really about? This book is a quirky, curious, and sometimes sordid look at the truth behind popular nursery rhymes that uncovers the strange tales that inspired them—from Viking raids to political insurrection to smuggling slaves to freedom. Read Albert Jack's posts on the Penguin Blog.

The Old Dog and Duck
The Old Dog and Duck

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2009-09-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 014192991X

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This is a book for everyone who has ever wondered why pubs should be called The Cross Keys, The Dew Drop Inn or The Hope and Anchor. You'll be glad to know that there are very good - strange and memorable - reasons behind them all. After much research about (and in) pubs, Albert Jack brings together the stories behind pub names to reveal how they offer fascinating and subversive insights on our history, customs, attitudes and jokes in just the same way that nursery rhymes do. The Royal Oak, for instance, commemorates the tree that hid Charles II from Cromwell's forces after his defeat at Worcester; The Bag of Nails is a corruption of the Bacchanals, the crazed followers of Bacchus, the god of wine and drunkenness; The Cat and the Fiddle a mangling of Catherine La Fidele and a guarded gesture of support for Henry VIII's first, Catholic, wife Catherine of Aragon; plus many, many more. Here too are even more facts about everything from ghosts to drinking songs to the rules of cribbage and shove hapenny, showing that, ultimately, the story of pub history is really the story of our own popular history

Phantom Hitchhikers and Other Urban Legends
Phantom Hitchhikers and Other Urban Legends

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2013-02-05

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1101619341

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Have you heard the one about… • Walt Disney’s frozen body? • Coca-Cola owning Santa Claus? • Alligators living in New York City sewers? We all love a good story. But where do the urban legends, conspiracy theories, and old wives’ tales we hear every day really originate? Albert Jack explores the best, strangest, and funniest of the tales so many of us take as gospel, and uncovers some eye-popping true stories that are even more far-fetched than their mythical counterparts. From Robin Hood to JFK’s brain, from hamsters under carpets to mysterious travelers, you’ll never be short of a scary or bizarre anecdote again.

What Caesar Did For My Salad
What Caesar Did For My Salad

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2010-09-02

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0141929928

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Did you know that the Cornish pasty was invented to protect tin miners from arsenic poisoning, or that the word 'salary' comes from Roman soldiers being paid their wages in salt? Why do we eat goose (or turkey) at Christmas? Is the Scotch egg actually from Scotland and what did some retired crusaders have to do with French toast? Who was the original Earl Grey and what sauce was inspired by Parliament? What dish was invented by Greek bandits on the run? Why were hot cross buns seen as magical and what's so rebellious about a haggis or medicinal about a gin and tonic? Did you know what the romantic history is behind the Bakewell Pudding? Albert Jack tells the strange tales behind our favourite dishes and drinks and where they come from (not to mention their unusual creators). What Caesar Did For My Salad is bursting with fascinating insights, characters and enough stories to entertain a hundred dinner parties.

It's a Wonderful Word
It's a Wonderful Word

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2011-11-03

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1446456099

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Did you know that an assassin is a hashish-eater and a yokel a country woodpecker? That Dr Mesmer mesmerised patients back to health or that Samuel Pepys enjoyed a good game of handicap? While we're at it, what have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocados? In It's a Wonderful Word, bestselling author Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, funniest-sounding and most delightful words in the English language, and traces them back to their often puzzling origins. While brushing up on your gibberish or gobbledygook, discover why bastards should resent travelling salesmen, why sheets should remain on tenterhooks and why you should never set down a tumbler before finishing your drink. From blotto to bamboozle and from claptrap to quango, Albert Jack's addictive anecdotes bring the world's most colourful language to life and are guaranteed to surprise and entertain.

Loch Ness Monsters and Raining Frogs
Loch Ness Monsters and Raining Frogs

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Random House Trade

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780812980059

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A brief collection of humorous and informative examinations of history's most puzzling mysteries, including stories about the Burmuda Triangle, Paul McCartney, Bigfoot, and Marilyn Monroe.

Black Sheep and Lame Ducks
Black Sheep and Lame Ducks

Author: Albert Jack

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2010-05-04

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1101187530

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The fun and fascinating follow-up to the international bestseller Red Herrings and White Elephants Why do people put their "skeletons in a closet," "have a hunch," "get the cold shoulder," "get dressed up to the nines," or "call a spade a spade?" These phrases are used every day, yet most people have little or no idea where most of them come from. In Black Sheep and Lame Ducks, Albert Jack takes readers on a journey through the curious- and often bizarre-origins of hundreds of their favorite idioms and expressions. For example, "wearing your heart on your sleeve" comes from the Middle Ages, when a lady would "give her heart" in the form of a handkerchief pinned to the sleeve of a knight who was about to go into battle. And calling someone the "black sheep in the family" refers to a thousands- year-old belief that a black lamb in a flock was unpopular because its fleece was undyeable and therefore less valuable. With Black Sheep and Lame Ducks, any language-lover can feel like a "Smart Aleck"-and also know exactly who that was.

March Hares and Monkeys' Uncles
March Hares and Monkeys' Uncles

Author: Harry Oliver

Publisher: Metro Publishing, Limited

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9781844546701

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Whilst we might choose our words carefully, we rarely think about the origins behind the many phrases, place names and expressions we use everyday. Yet, behind these words lies a fascinating story, steeped in the weird and wonderful history and traditions of everyday life. From hundreds of commonplace and more quirky terms, to names of streets, cities and public houses, this fascinating and fun book answers the questions you've always had about the wonderful language we all use, yet seldom think about.So if it's all Greek to you and seems like hocus pocus, for Pete's sake don't be left on tenderhooks, have a gander at this idiosyncractic tome. Make no bones about it - it's the bee's knees!