Why You Say It&hellip (Catlett, VA)

Why You Say It&hellip

The Fascinating Stories Behind Over 600 Everyday Words and PhrasesLocal pick-up preferred but will ship at the buyer s expenseKingston Books 1 IMG_1065Not IllustratedAuthor Webb GarrisonPublisher Rutledge Hill PressAre you more likely .. .to take the bull by the horns or beat around the bush Don t let anyone call you on the carpet for failing to put your best foot forward. That would be a bitter pill to swallow. In the long run it s easier to just bite the bullet and get your ducks in a row. After all nobody likes the taste of humble pie.You ve likely uttered at least one of these adages within the last week but have you ever stopped to consider where such conversational staples originated Why You Say It reveals the backstory of more than six hundred words and phrases that pepper our everyday dialogue. This catalog of our language s most colorful expressions delivers an illuminating read for anyone curious about the evolution of words.INTRODUCTIONBEHIND EVERY WORD IS A STORY Ambrose E. Burnside a one time manufacturer of rifles became a colonel in the First Rhode Island Volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil War. When enlistment of his 90 day regiment expired Burnside remained in uniform having been made a brigadier general by Abraham Lincoln.He is the only man who twice refused command of the Army of the Potomac only to accept that post under the stern orders from the president. His daring but foolish attempt to cross the Rappahannock River in 1863 ended in a famous or infamous mud march in which Robert E. Lee s mocking Confederates pretended to offer help to place pontoon bridges for his troops.. Removed from command he was sent to Ohio. There he was the key figure in an unconstitutional punishment of a former U.S. Congressman whom he banished into Confederate territory.At war s end Ambrose E. Burnside served three terms as Governor of Rhode Island and was then elected to the U.S. Senate. Yet the most enduring memorial to a dashing and colorful soldier-politician is the descriptive term sideburns briefly described in these pages.Numerous huge scholarly works notably the 22 000-page Oxford English Dictionary offer detailed accounts of the way speech has developed. Yet volumes produced by academicians are not easy to use. Neither do they appeal to millions of persons who everyday employ hundreds of written and oral words and phrases.Why You Say It is precisely what the title suggests a collection of fast-moving accounts of expression in wide use.In 1955 Abingdon Press published a volume of the same title with many similar emphases. This time I have dug into a great many words and phrases not even in use thirty-six years ago.. In addition I have tried to take into account the new openness of our speech. Influenced by novels and television today we think nothing of referring to a prostitute or a condom for example. These and many other terms were taboo in polite circles until very recently.This volume is offered primarily for your enjoyment secondarily as a all-too-brief popular reference work. Delving into these pages you ll find many stories that you will be tempted to introduce into your conversations. Please do so. Anytime you are so inclined Should you be called upon to provide material for a program adaptations of accounts included here are suitable for many occasions. Note that the listings entitled See Also are suggestive but by no means exhaustive exhaustive a quick glance at a few pages will yield other vignettes in the same category.Space makes it impossible to compile listings of stories in all subject matter categories treated. If you care to do so you may readily identify and use the accounts relating to these and other special interests automobiles horsesbaseball hunting and fishingbiblical words medicine and healthbooks musicCivil War words mythologycon men pokercowboys politicsfarming railroadsfashion sailors and the seafood and drink science and technologyfootball sexgolf warHere s hoping that you ll have fun discovering why you say some of the things that mark you as an individual using inherited words and phrases in a fashion that is unique to you. Webb Garrison Lake Junaluska N. C. Contents by ChapterIntroductionThe World of Entertainment Many Were Famous Others Merely Rich Feathers and Fur Names and Games Sports Talk Often Follows the Ball These Make Sense Distance Lends Enchantment Words From Afar Money. Business and Commerce Why Don t Folks Say Precisely What They Mean The Great Outdoors Making Fun of Others Some things Are Not What The Seem Going Places Then and Now One Person s Food Borrowed from the British Stories to be Taken with a Grain of Salt Comparisons That Froze in Speech Action Is the Name of the Game Say Did you Know BibliographyPaperback 356 pages ISBN-10 1-55853-128-4