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. :( ( )

NA

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.

from the Dogear Diary ( )

"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