Red Herrings and White Elephants

Fülszöveg

Bob's your uncle' - to reach a satisfactory conclusion through minimum effort. Came into use following the appointment in the 1890s of Arthur Balfour to Secretary of State for Ireland. Balfour was a surprise - few thought he was qualified. It became known he was the nephew of British Prime Minister Róbert Gascoyne-Cecil and people said with a wink that anything was possible if Róbert was your uncle.
Bold as brass, cold feet, cock and buli, currying favour and off the cuff And, of course, red herrings and white elephants. We use these phrases every day and yet we have only the vaguest idea of where many of them come from. And if you do
happen to know all about the origins of somé of
the phrases listed above, there are hundreds of
others inside, waiting to take you on a trip through
the most fascinating and richest regions of the
English language. Once you've read one, you'll
want to read them all!
Acid test' - the process of establishing the truth beyond any doubt. It... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Bob's your uncle' - to reach a satisfactory conclusion through minimum effort. Came into use following the appointment in the 1890s of Arthur Balfour to Secretary of State for Ireland. Balfour was a surprise - few thought he was qualified. It became known he was the nephew of British Prime Minister Róbert Gascoyne-Cecil and people said with a wink that anything was possible if Róbert was your uncle.
Bold as brass, cold feet, cock and buli, currying favour and off the cuff And, of course, red herrings and white elephants. We use these phrases every day and yet we have only the vaguest idea of where many of them come from. And if you do
happen to know all about the origins of somé of
the phrases listed above, there are hundreds of
others inside, waiting to take you on a trip through
the most fascinating and richest regions of the
English language. Once you've read one, you'll
want to read them all!
Acid test' - the process of establishing the truth beyond any doubt. It refers to a real test that was used by gold miners to ascertain whether or
not they had struck the real thing. Gold is one of the few precious metals not affected by the majority of acids. The hopeful owner would introduce somé
acid to his find and watch anxiously to see if his dreams of wealth burned away before his very eyes.
RED HERRINGS
AND
WHITE ELEPHANTS
The English language is full of phrases and sayings, used on a daily basis by all of us and sometimes we need to take the time out to find out where on earth these familiar utterances come from. Students of our language often struggle with these eccentric modes of expression as they have no obvious connection within the context of an otherwise perfectly innocuous conversation.
We shouldn't be surprised that people are bemused. We teli them to puli their fingers out, go for the full monty and watch out for the dead ringers, but half the time we have no idea what any of that really means.
Dig a little deeper and you'll discover amazing stories from all over the world and throughout history,- military traditions from centuries ago, customs and practices from ancient and strange civilisations, famous people who have lent their names to describe familiar situations and sometimes just downright bizarre explanations. It's an enthralling, fun and educational look at the humble words we rarely consider.
Part-serious study, part-trivia mine, this is the only reference you need to amazé your friends with your knowledge. From the drop of a hat to the bittér end — this is your one-stop answer to any question about the greatest language in the history of the world. Vissza