Dictionary Of Idioms And Their Origins

New entries in the revised edition include play fast and loose (from a 16th-century fairground game), head over heels (a totally illogical variation on the more sensible ‘heels over head’) and knee-high to a grasshopper (which won out over kneehigh to a mosquito and knee-high to a toad).

Mini-essays scattered through the book expand on such broader themes as What is an idiom? National Rivalries and The Old Curiosity Shop of Linguistics. Linda and Roger Flavell combine scholarly accuracy with an unfailing understanding of the snippets of information that intrigue the browser.