The Cassell Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (Cassell reference)

by NigelRees (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1992

  $38.32

• Used

  Paperback
  1998

  $3.18

  A dictionary that aims to explain the etymology of expressions such as hand over fist , take a rain-check and don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs .

• Used

  Hardcover
  1996

  $4.59

  Do you have any idea where the word nerd came from, or twerp ? This dictionary starts where ordinary references beg off. Discover that bad hair day was originated by California teenagers in the early 1990s. Learn that bikini comes from the name of a Pacific island used in the 1940s for atomic bomb tests. Learn why a flight data recorder is called a black box -- even though it's orange.