| Book of the Month | ||
|
Red Herrings and White Elephants | |
Publisher: Metro Publishing
Author: Albert Jack
256 pages.
ISBN: 1 84358 129 9
English is a language packed full of idioms. Every student knows the one about it raining cats and dogs, even though this expression is hardly used these days. But what about terms like 'shake a leg' (get up and get moving) 'Bob's your uncle' (something done more easily than you would think), or it being 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'? (This is a naval expression, and rather different from what you might imagine!). Mr Jack has collected hundreds of these expressions into a little book, and given an explanation of where each of them came from. He admits that he cannot describe every idiom, but he has selected the ones that he found most interesting, and he has done a good job.
The book is arranged into seventeen chapters, each giving the area that the expressions came from. Since the British have a long history as sailors, it is no surprise that many sailing terms have become part of the language. Being left 'high and dry' (abandoned and helpless), 'taken aback'(astonished) and 'three sheets to the wind' (drunk) are just a few examples. Other chapters have expressions which come from (for example) the law, from sport, and from the USA. There are a few illustrations, which really do not add much - the space could have been better filled by more idioms.
Who is this book for? Anyone who is interested in the English language will find something new or amusing here. Not all of thes explanations are convincing, but they will certainly help a student to remember the idioms they describe. Because the English language is so idiomatic, it is quite possible for students to understand every word in a sentence and none of the meaning. This book (which has a handy index at the back) will help with this problem.
Verdict: This book is neither a red herring nor a white elephant.
Assessment 8/10