When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There's the Devil to Pay: Seafaring Words in Everyday Speech

This is an excellent book that identifies the origins of some very common expressions and some, well not so common. One of my favorites included "freezing the balls off a brass monkey". The book tells you what the phrases meant during the time it was used and how the expression may be applied now.

I am always interested in the origin of language, and idioms, and expressions. this book provides some interesting background, and is fun to read.

This book was a great addition to my library of oddball reference books. Amazing how many common expressions still used today originated in naval/sea history. Everyone whose picked up this book can't seem to put it down. Olivia Isil writes with just enough detail so as not to bore the reader. The explanations & background stories were very entertaining.

A lot of common phrases, but the color one would expect seems to be drained from the book. There are some good definitions, some very interesting. I had a hard time reading the font of the book, even with my reading glasses.

This is a little gem! It's a great read, and fun to just dip into for some quick information and good storytelling. Most people would be quite surprised at the number of words and phrases that trace their origins to ships. I highly recommend this book.

A book for everyone interested in ANY aspect of boating.Great for boring cocktail party chit chat- you’ll be the only interesting person there.

A fun read about Nautical phrase silliness and weirdness. Lots of fun facts.

Want to talk like an Ol' salt! This is a good start, beats a peck on the head with a clam shell.

Mildly amusing.American.Often wrong.I'm a sailor and I hoped to learn something: I learned that people can sell quite bad books.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I purchased while researching background material for a seminar on English metaphors. I found it very informative and well documented.Many of the idioms it contains are well known and widely used, yet often obscure as to their origins. The title itself consists of 3 maritime expressions, at least one of which is deceptive in its simplicity. The "devil" is not Satan and "to pay" has no monetary connotations. This book is a very useful reference and a very enjoyable read for anyone wishing to introduce a note of "saltiness" in their prose. A common idiom that's strangely absent from this book is "the whole nine yards". While its exact etymology is much debated, many believe this idiom dates back to the days of sailing and is said to describe a ship under full sail, i.e. when all nine sails have been hoisted to the nine yard-arms.