Swinging the Lead and Spiking His Guns: Military & Naval Expressions and Their Origins
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At times service life may be “nothing to write home about,” but the language of the mess and words and expressions commonly used by soldiers, sailors, and airman in war and peace have become firmly rooted in our everyday conversations
Drawing on the language of the fighting man throughout the ages, this A-Z collection of popular idioms and turns of phrase delves into the origin and evolution of expressions now used in common language which came into being on the battlefield, the gun-deck, and more recently, in the air. So to find out what it means to ‘swear like a trooper’, when something’s ‘gone for a Burton’, browse through this fascinating collection and discover the history of hundreds of similar words and phrases.
| Publisher | Past Times |
|---|---|
| Place | Oxford |
| Year | 2000 |
| Binding | Hardcover |
| Condition | Very Good |
| Comments | Corners slightly bumped. |
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New: Exactly as it says.
As New: Pretty much new but shows small signs of having been read; inside it will be clean without any inscriptions or stamps; might contain a remainder mark.
Very Good: Might have some creases on the spine; no hard cracks; maybe slight forward lean and short inscription inside; perhaps very minor bumping on the corners of the book; inside clean but the page edges might be slightly yellowed.
Good: A few creases on the spine, perhaps a forward lean, bumping on corners or shelfwear; maybe an inscription inside or some shelfwear or a small tear or two on the dustjacket; inside clean but page edges might be somewhat yellowed.
Fair: In overall good condition, might have a severe forward lean to the spine, an inscription, bumping to corners; one or two folds on the covers and yellowed pages; in exceptional cases these books might contain some library stamps and stickers or have neat sticky tape which was used to fix a short, closed tear.
Poor: We rarely sell poor condition books, unless the books are in demand and difficult to find in a better condition. Poor condition books are still perfect for a good read, all pages will be intact and none threatening to fall out; most probably a reading copy only.