Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of Common Phrases, Allusions, and Words That Have a Tale to Tell

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of Common Phrases, Allusions, and Words That Have a Tale to Tell

Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

Paperback

Series: Cambridge Library Collection - Literary Studies

Literary CriticismAnthropologyGeneral World History

ISBN10: 1108068871
ISBN13: 9781108068871
Publisher: Cambridge
Published: Mar 20 2014
Pages: 992
Weight: 2.72
Height: 2.22 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
First published in 1870, this 'museum of literary odds and ends' was condensed from material in a manuscript that was thrice the size of the finished book. At the end of his life, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-97) substantially revised and updated the Dictionary in 1895 and it has appeared in new versions ever since. Reissued here in its first edition, the work reflects Brewer's distinct style and draws on a lifetime's reading. Elucidating the etymology of some 20,000 unusual and everyday words and phrases, the collection touches on diverse subjects ranging from history and literature to mythology and magic. Brewer's charming preface describes the book as an 'alms-basket of words' and promises to examine terms such as 'killed with kindness' and 'kettle of fish'. Readers will be enlightened as to the original meaning of familiar and unfamiliar phrases, many of which have fallen out of use yet testify to the richness of an evolving language.

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