Cool Cats, Top Dogs, and Other Beastly Expressions

by Christine Ammer

Our language is filled with animal expressions, many of them so familiar that we rarely stop to wonder where they came from or when they first appeared. Cool Cats, Top Dogs, and Other Beastly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395957303
• ISBN13: 9780395957301
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

More than just a lot of words...

It's hard not to be dazzled by this remarkable compendium of some 1200 everyday expressions that refer to our animal friends. Ammer offers much more than a superficial alphabetical listing of words and phrases, although the complete index makes it easy to use this delightful and informative volume for reference as well as for casual browsing; rather, she presents the reader with a user-friendly collection of topical essays that explore the origins, history, and usage of each of the terms she considers. Never dry or pedantic, the book delves with surprising depth into the etymology and meaning of fauna-related words and the expressions that have grown up around them. For a book aimed at the general public, the level of scholarship is remarkably high. This is an extraordinary book that teaches while it entertains.