Betty Kirkpatrick has complied and exhaustive dictionary--a must for writers, crossword puzzle buffs, and anyone who is intrigued by language. Sample entries from Cliches Let the cat out of the bag is an idiom cliche meaning to reveal a secret. In origin it refers allegedly to a fairground tick by which traders sold unwary buyers a cat in a bag, assuring them it was a pig. The buyers did not realize their mistake until they let the cat out of the back, by which time it was too late. Bite the bullet is an idiom cliche meaning to steel oneself to accept something distressing. In origin it probably refers to the days before anesthesia, when soldiers wounded in battle were given a lead bullet to bite on to brace themselves against the pain of surgery. Fly off the handle is an idiom cliche meaning to lose one's temper. Originally American, the expression has its origin in an ax or hammer, the handle of which becomes loosened and flies off after it has struck a blow.
You can bet your bottom dollar, this book is a winner-and much, much more!
Some of the clichés brought into the limelight include: • Blood is thicker than water • Monkey see, monkey do • Brass tacks • Burn the midnight oil • Change of heart • Moral fiber • By the book Whether clichés get under your ...
“An indispensable and enduring field guide to the arguments the left makes—and the ones it tries to avoid.” —The Claremont Review of Books According to Jonah Goldberg, if the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the ...
'A must-have' - The Telegraph 'Book of the Week' - The Independent 'Hilarious' - Sport Magazine In what other context do football fans use the words 'aplomb' or 'derisory'?
The author welcomes your comments. This is the first of three books in this series.
Wake up and smell the coffee, language lovers! Here's the newest, biggest, most informative collection available of the most reviled of verbal formulas: the cliche. Most cliches started life as...
Confused? Many Brits are, too. In Football Clichés, London-based soccer writer Adam Hurrey amusingly translates the idioms of the sport, from the quaint to the ridiculous.
'An effigy ofa dead and gone worthy, tobe admired withdistant respect' (R.H. Mottram, You Can't HaveItBack, 1939). d e adce r t aint y , a . An utter certainty: late C. 19–20; originally sporting. d e adletter,a (f i g u r at ive) .
This book is intended to help people who want to "spice up" the way they talk. It is especially effective for people whose native languages are not English.
Many of the phrases we use everyday are so woven into our vocabulary that we never think to question their origin or meaning.