words and language
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Common Phrases And Where They Come From
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Rating: 3.67/5 from 3 reviews Book has very little credibilityNOW I KNOWI've always been intrigued by common phrases, or idioms, that are part of our everyday language. As a result I was happy to get my hands on this book. After reading COMMON PHRASES: AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM I feel as if many of my questions have been answered. In the introduction, almost as interesting as the body, Morduck and Korach explain the prevalance of idioms in addition to their historical and social significance. Now I realize how these common phrases maintain an important bond between the present and the past. Some of the idioms are so commonplace that I didn't realize their historical significance. Here is an example I found interesting, "Apple of My Eye: It was believed as long ago as the ninth century that the pupil of the eye was a vital spot in the human anatomy. Primitive medical curiousity about it caused the early healers to study the pupil as closely as they could. They concluded that it was apple shaped, and so it become popularly known as 'apple of the eye.' Because the pupil was considered as vital as life itself, it become customary for a gallant hero to call the object of his affections 'the apple of my eye.'" (p. 16) COMMON PHRASES: AND WHERE THEY COME FROM is well worth the money and time if you're as interested in idioms as I am. Great way to spend your "Mad Money."This has been a great find. You don't actually "read" it so much as you look up expressions and phrases and sayings in the index and then read them to someone else. A terrific little volume to keep on your desk or even in the backpack. Lots of fun. I don't understand how I can be the first reviewer! | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some of the etymologies and explanations in the book are probably true, however, there are quite a few instances where Korach and Mordock are demonstrably wrong--enough, I felt, to doubt the credibility of the rest of the book.
Read the review from the School Library Journal. See where the reviewer mentions "disagreements" with other sources and how difficult it is to pin down etymologies? That's a very delicate way of saying Korach and Mordock's book contains a lot of poorly-researched entries and very dubious explanations.
Spend your money on a different etymology book. This one is simply not a reliable source.