Book Review: Why Do We Say It? by unknown
As the subtitle on the cover suggest, this book is about words and phrases used in English, and where they came from. It’s primarily in alphabetical order, except for some quizzes with answers at the back. While many of the entries are amusing or interesting, a few are just “we borrowed it from French, but pronounced or spelled a little differently.” Some of the word derivations are also a bit suspect,
This edition is put out by Castle Books, and was published in 1985. There’s no author listed, no sources cited, no index; your college professor is not going to accept this as a source for your research paper. From the typography, the writing style, the date of phrases not included, and some dated cultural assumptions, I believe this book is a reprint of one from the mid-1940s (Some of the catchier phrases haven’t been in common use since the 1920s!)
Overall, a fun book, but the serious student of etymology will need a better-cited volume; for entertainment purposes only.
While we’re at it, here’s five questions from the book. Can you answer them all?
- Why is some cloth called “broadcloth”?
- How did an unruly lock of hair come to be called a “cowlick”?
- What is the origin of the expression “fair-weather friends”?
- Why is a lively person said to be full of “ginger”?
- Why do we call a celebrity a “bigwig”?
