A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions by Charles Earle Funk

This Book Is About

My Thoughts On This Book

Have you ever wondered where a certain phrase came from? This book by the former editor-in-chief of the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary series will tell you just that. And in informal, easy-to-read and witty style.

This is a really fun book. I love Funk’s writing and research so much that I always buy his books when I find them. Most are out of print, though my copy of this book was reprinted in 2002. Used, A Hog on Ice and Funk’s other books run around $5.00.

I discovered these wonderful word and phrase origin books at Bluestocking Books in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood. Which reminds me, I need to go back there and see if they have anymore of Funk’s books. His research is A-1 (one of his other books actually covers that one) word and phrase etymology.

Here’s a quick sample of some of the 400+ phrases covered in Hog on Ice:

“aboard the bandwagon” “blind tiger” “bury the hatchet” “dumb as a doornail” “eager beaver” “fifth columnist” “forlorn hope” “give one the sack” “gone to pot” “iron curtain” “play to the gallery” “rain cats and dogs” “skin the cat” “white elephant”

“bell the cat” “blue funk” “break the ice” “curry favor” “Dutch uncle” “eat crow” “fly the coop” “French leave” “go whole hog” “go haywire” “parson’s nose” “red herring” “that’s the ticket” …and SO many more.

If you’ve ever been curious about how certain phrases got started in the English language than this is the book for you. And, um, all the other books Mr. Funk wrote. You’ll be surprised how old some of our everyday sayings are, several going as far back as the 1600s or further.

Rating & Levels For This Book

I Give This Book four Vikings out of five	Violence Level zero Burning Huts out of five	Romance Level zero Hearts out of five
# of actual vikings in book: 0 What do these levels mean? ”	Humor Level two Smiles out of five	Lust Level zero Kisses out of five

Author and Publishing Information For This Book

Author & Book Details Title: A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions Author(s): Charles Earle Funk ISBN#: 0060912596 Genre(s): English language etymology reference Edition Reviewed: first Harper Colophon paperback edition Illustrations: small black ink drawings by Tom Funk illustrate many of the expressions Page Count: 202 (214 with index) Part of a Series: not quite, though, Funk has many great books on the origins of words and phrases.

Publishing & Copyright Details Publisher(s): Perennial Library (Harper & Row imprint) Copyright: 1985, 1948 (there is a newer edition with a 2002 copyright) In Print: not this edition, no. But Original Language: English Published in Other Languages: no Find a Local Book Store ”

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