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He's as independent as a hog on ice! Where did expressions like this come from anyway? Now finally we'll know what "letting the cat out of the bag" or "going on a wild-goose chase" refers to. In this fun collection of more than 400 curious expressions and sayings, Dr. Funk explains the meanings that we use in everyday speech without even thinking about it. He has traced them back through the years -- in some cases centuries -- in an effort to determine their sources, to find out what the original allusions were, or at the very least, to give us his expert opinion when facts cannot be traced.… (mere)
Many of the 400 expressions discussed in this book are no longer in use - or the meanings have changed completely. As a study in how language changes, it's semi-interesting. However, I wasn't impressed with many of the "explanations" - so many of them were just the author's random assumptions. ("Perhaps a schoolboy in x situation felt x and blah blah blah.")
There are some repetitive bits, as well, especially when the author was detailing physical abuse to cats. :( ( )
Tells the origins and meanings of many many sayings- over four hundred of them. It's a nice read especially if you are interested in etymology. The forward describes in detail how the author sought out the original meaning of the phrase "as independent as a hog on ice"; the rest of the entries simply outline what the final findings were. Most of the expressions I had heard before, a few were entirely unfamiliar to me. Some I had an idea where they came from, others it was the opposite of what I would have assumed. Lots are from political moments in history, old arcane practices, or mispronunciations of former word forms (many of the expressions are centuries old). In some cases the author found no evidence at all, so he surmised a best guess.
"A Hog On Ice simultaneously tickles and informs it's reader. Writing as the vaudevillian used to play the fiddle, for his own amazement, Dr.Funk has set down with humor and scholarship the best and most plausible explanations he could pry out of past records and living persons." - S.C. Gross, N.Y. Times
Oplysninger fra den engelske Almen VidenRedigér teksten, så den bliver dansk.
To the memory of my mother, Cynthia Ellen Funk
Første ord
Oplysninger fra den engelske Almen VidenRedigér teksten, så den bliver dansk.
in a blue funk
It would be interesting if, through family records, I could bring an unexpected source into view which would explain why this expression means 'in a state of dire panic,' or from another record why a stooge for an auctioneer, one who makes fictitious bids to stimulate higher bids, is called a 'Peter Funk'; but, alas, no such records are known.
Citater
Sidste ord
Oplysninger fra den engelske Almen VidenRedigér teksten, så den bliver dansk.
Such a disorderly, deranged, shiftless place has "gone haywire", and this, from observation of numerous such places in Colorado mining camps, Wyoming ranches, and Idaho, Utah and California farms, I believe, gave rise to our expression.
He's as independent as a hog on ice! Where did expressions like this come from anyway? Now finally we'll know what "letting the cat out of the bag" or "going on a wild-goose chase" refers to. In this fun collection of more than 400 curious expressions and sayings, Dr. Funk explains the meanings that we use in everyday speech without even thinking about it. He has traced them back through the years -- in some cases centuries -- in an effort to determine their sources, to find out what the original allusions were, or at the very least, to give us his expert opinion when facts cannot be traced.
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gracearents | Sep 11, 2014 | 
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(3.37)
4
There are some repetitive bits, as well, especially when the author was detailing physical abuse to cats. :( (