Scapegoats, Shambles and Shibboleths: The Queen's English from the King James Bible

 

The fruit of Martin Manser's labors is a delightful book for all who adore the English language. Far from always quoting the Bible to seem holier than thou, it seems many people quote the book without even realizing it. Manser explains in detail such commonly used phrases as "a fly in the ointment," "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die," "at death's door," and "the apple of one's eye"—in the past the pupil of the eye, because of its shape, was referred to as "the apple." Recognized to be the most important part of the eye, it was a symbol for all things precious—the most valuable part of a highly valued organ of the body. Dotted around the Bible the phrase therefore represents anything that is of great worth, whether it is the law of God in Proverbs 7 v 2, the people of Israel found and nurtured in the desert, or an individual on the receiving end of divine care. A perfectly quirky present for language lovers, this book will amuse and entertain as well as shed a thought-provoking light on the background to our rich and varied language.