The Real McCoy: A Dictionary of Peculiar English

Are you the bee’s knees, or the apple of your father’s eye? Do you paint the town red, as a rule of thumb? If you were between a rock and a hard place, would you close your eyes and think of England? And have you ever wondered where these phrases – common enough, but on inspection often very strange – come from? The Real McCoy is a comprehensive dictionary of the many idioms we use in English, and, with 800 entries, is the first authoritative reference book on the subject. Quotations illustrating the origin of these idioms range from Aristophanes to Tom Wolfe, from the Lindisfarne Gospels to Mario Puzo, Davy Crockett to Raymond Chandler. Peter Chadlington’s book is not only authoritative but accessible. Illustrated throughout with original drawings by Oliver Pugh, the book provides the browsing reader with something to interest, amuse and delight on every page. And if you would like to know why this is called a ‘blurb’, look out for Miss Blinda Blurb …