Review of “Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red, The curious Origins of Everyday Sayings & Fun Phrases” and a giveaway!

As a writer, I use phrases every day, but find I really don’t know where the meanings came from. Am I using the phrase correctly? Maybe I am and maybe not! When I had the chance to review “Hair of the dog to Paint the Town Red, The Curious Origins of Everyday Sayings & Fun Phrases” I jumped at the chance.

The Book!

Maybe after reading this book, I will be able to use phrases in the right concept! I love to take books on trips and sometimes I will read aloud to my husband Keith as we wind along the back roads. This is one of those kind of books!

What’s it about?

“Hair of the dog to Paint the Town Red, The Curious Origins of Everyday Sayings & Fun Phrases” written by Andrew Thompson explains the origins of 400 phrases that we use everyday. The book breaks the phrases down into different categories that took me around the world.

The Author

The author Andrew Thompson is a bestselling writer. Besides Hair of the Dog, he has also written 10 books – 7 trivia books, 1 novel, 1 travel memoir and 1 book about misused words. His latest books ‘Why Does Bright Light Make You Sneeze?‘ and ‘Why Do Roller Coasters Make You Puke?’ are out now.

Phrase Examples

Just a few phrases to share include “Cut and Run”. While I may say I took a trip and it wasn’t what I expected, so, we just cut and run leaving our plans behind. The real meaning is :avoid a difficult situation by leaving abruptly. The origin was cutting an anchor when ships were under attack. The phrase became popular in 1861 after Charles Dickens included it in his novel Great Expectations. How cool is that?

Another phrase I use a lot is Start from scratch. The meaning is ” start again from the beginning, regardless of any prior work done. I may say, my story was wrong for the publication so I had to start from scratch. The origin was from the sport of horse racing a line was marked, or scratched in the ground by a sword. Thompson writes, “The jockeys began the race behind the mark, and if it was found that any of them weren’t following the course that was set out, they would be required to go back and start again from scratch…..”

The Giveaway

These are only two of the wonderful myriad of phrases in this fun book I also learned about Throw Down the Gauntlet, Add Insult to Injury, Head over Heels and more.

If you are as excited about the book as I am, the publisher Ulysses Press provided me with an extra copy. Subscribe to Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl and comment on this. I will put your name in a drawing, then contact the winner!

Good luck, this is a winner for sure. You can also order the book through Ulysses Press for $12.95. Check out some of my other book reviews!