Brewer's Curious Titles

Cover
Ian Crofton
Cassell, 2002 - 548 Seiten
Find the origins of obscure titles of over 1,500 films, novels, plays, paintings, and musical compositions. Some are humorous or ironic, others risqué or purposely baffling. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is an ironic reference to blacked-out news reports while thousands of soldiers were dying. "Hobson's Choice," a 1916 play, comes from liveryman Thomas Hobson (c.1544-1631) who always offered customers the horse nearest the door of the stable, and no other. A "Yankee Doodle" comes from the Dutch pejorative, a Jan Kees (John Cheese), meaning an arrogant fellow. See how many films and books you can list with insects in the title, or that start with "I Was a..." or "I Married a...". Then see how many you missed.

Autoren-Profil (2002)

Ian Crofton is a freelance writer and editor. His publications include A DICTIONARY OF MUSICAL QUOTATIONS (with Donald Fraser) and A DICTIONARY OF ART QUOTATIONS, and he was editor-in-chief of THE GUINNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA. He contributed entries on history, music and art to BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF MODERN PHRASE AND FABLE, and has written articles for a number of other children's and adults' reference books.

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