Now You Know
Why are golf assistants called caddies? Why do the British drive on the left and North Americans on the right? Why is football played on a “gridiron,” and a leg injury called a “Charlie horse”? The answers to these questions and the origins of hundreds of other expressions and customs are brought together in this fascinating collection of the history behind everyday words and routines. With all the conciseness of his original radio scripts, Doug Lennox “cuts to the quick” in telling you the things you always wanted to know.
Now You Know More
This is a follow-up to last year’s runaway bestseller Now You Know … The Book of Answers, which went through five printings and sold over 20,000 copies!
Why do we shout “Fore” on a golf course? Why is confetti thrown at a wedding? Exactly how long is a “moment” or a “jiffy”? Why is breaking a mirror bad luck, and a rabbit’s foot good luck?
In this second book, Lennox continues to trace the concise and fascinating history and reasons for hundreds of expressions in our everyday language, as well as customs and habits, in the same entertaining format that was so successful last year. These gems are from the original syndicated radio scripts broadcast daily to millions across Canada through the Sound Source Network of Standard Broadcasting.
Now You Know Almost Everything
The phenomenal success of the Now You Know and Now You Know More has encouraged this third Book of Answers. Now You Know Almost Everything continues with the same formula of dispensing knowledge concisely, never losing sight of the joy and fun of discovering the why of ordinary things.
In Now You Know Almost Everything you will discover answers to hundreds of questions:
- • Why can’t grooms see their bride on the day before the wedding?
- • Why is a swindle called a “double-cross”?
- • Why do people say, “That’s all she wrote”?
- • Where did the word “Canuck” come from?
Now You Know Almost Everything makes sure that you just about know it all.
Now You Know Volume 4
Building on the success of his previous bestsellers, Now You Know, Now You Know More, and Now You Know Almost Everything, this fourth volume is headed straight for the bestseller list! It is Doug Lennox at his best as he masterfully dispenses the answers to quirky questions, never losing sight of the joy of discovering the “why” of ordinary things.
Discover the fascinating histories behind people, places, and words:
WHY DO WE SAY THAT SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN TREATED BADLY HAS BEEN “HUNG OUT TO DRY”?
Discipline on early British sailing ships was necessary but often extreme. The cat-o’-nine-tails left sailors scarred for life, but keelhauling (tying a victim with a rope and pulling him under a ship) was feared most. If the prisoner survived, he was suspended from a yardarm where he was left hanging for a predetermined period of time.
WHY IS A MILITARY DINING HALL CALLED A “MESS”?
The term goes back to the Middle Ages, when British sailors began calling their meagre and often grub-infested meals a “mess.” It evolved into meaning the general area where the sailors gathered to eat. Later it referred to a specific area where men gathered to eat, drink, and socialize.
