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Judy Parkinson

Spilling the Beans on the Cat’s Pyjamas

Popular Expressions - What They Mean and Where We Got Them

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Details

Imprint: O'Mara Books

Publication date: 04/04/2013

ISBN: 9781782430117

Subject: Non-Fiction

Binding: Paperback

Size: Other

Extent: 192 pages

Territorial Rights: World (All Languages)

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Summary:

How on earth did 'with bells on' come to express enthusiasm?
What do chips on shoulders have to do with inferiority complexes?
... And who is the face that launched a thousand ships?

Spilling the Beans on the Cat's Pyjamas provides us with the meanings of these well-worn and much-loved phrases by putting these linguistic quirks in context, and explaining how and why they were first used.

For example, did you know that 'the rule of thumb' refers to the use of the thumb to make measurements, as the first joint of the average adult thumb measures one inch?

Absorbing, diverting and fascinating - as far as gift books go, Spilling the Beans really is the bee's knees!

Reviews:

If you'd like to know the origins of some of our most baffling phrases, take a look at this

Daily Express

Provides a wealth of fascinating facts about the meaning and origin of phrases we use every day... With every page guaranteed to entertain and inform, this really is the bee's knees when it comes to the perfect gift!

Lancashire Evening Post

Reveals the origins and meanings of some of the most popular and obscure sayings we use today

Daily Mirror

Sales points:

  • The paperback edition of the successful hardback (over 80,000 copies sold to date)

  • A wonderfully entertaining book that examines the meanings and origins of the many colourful - but baffling - phrases we use every day

  • Explores the history and context of such phrases as 'the bee's knees', 'as keen as mustard' and 'push the boat out'

  • Written by Judy Parkinson, the author of the bestselling I Before E (Except After C) - over half a million copies sold

About the Author:

Judy Parkinson

Judy Parkinson has worked in film and television and has written several notable biographies. She is the author of I Before E (Except After C): Old-School Ways to Remember Stuff, Remember, Remember (The Fifth of November): The History of Britain in Bite-Sized Chunks, and Spilling the Beans on the Cat's Pyjamas: Popular Expressions - What They Mean and Where We Got Them, all published by Michael O’Mara Books. She lives and works in London.