Holy Cow!: Doggerel, Catnaps, Scapegoats, Foxtrots, and Horse Feathers-Splendid Animal Words and Phrases

Description

We love animals but insult humans by calling them everything from weasels or pigs to sheep, mice, chickens, sharks, snakes, and bird-brains. Animal epithets, words, and phrases are so widespread we often take them for granted or remain ignorant of the fascinating stories and facts behind them. Spanning the entire animal kingdom, Holy Cow! explains: Why hot dogs are named after canines. Why people talk turkey or go cold turkey. Why curiosity killed the cat, although dogs are more curious about us. Why letting the cat out of the bag originally referred to a duped shopper. What a horse of another color is, what horsefeathers politely alludes to, why a mule is a lady's slipper, and what horseradish has to do with horses. Why the combination of humans and cows probably led to capitalism-its name from Latin for head, as in heads of cows. Why holy cow and sacred cow have almost opposite meanings. Whether people actually chewed the fat or ate crow (and why it's a crowbar). How a hog became a motorcycle and a chick a young woman. And much-much!-more.

Boze Hadleigh, author of Celebrity Feuds! and Hollywood and Whine, has written more than 15 books. He holds a master's degree in journalism, speaks five languages, and has been a winner on Jeopardy! Boze also writes extensively for magazines, and his work has appeared in more than 100 publications including TV Guide, Playboy, and Us. The author splits his time, when not traveling the world, between Beverly Hills and Sydney, Australia.