Chloe Rhodes

I was drawn to the cover of this book, and the book itself is quite nice, plus I was interested to learn more about ridiculous superstitions that people have believed or still believe.

Reading this, however, it was very hard for me as it wasn't nearly as interesting as I was expecting. While there were a few interesting facts and I did learn quite a few things, I found myself growing tired as I read through it. While it's nice to learn the origins of some widely spread superstitions, some of which I didn't even realize were superstitions, you quickly start to realize how... stupid, for lack of a better word, they really are.

Most of these superstitions have religious backgrounds and origins, which is something I tend to avoid. It started to make sense to me, though - only religious folk would be crazy enough to believe in some of this stuff. I don't want to be mean, but it honestly felt like an 80-year-old history professor was slowly droning through a lesson until the whole class was ready to jump out the window.

I found myself having to force myself to keep reading or to go back to this book after a break. It was hard for me to get through and was quite boring. I had to re-read the same paragraph over several times because my brain just wasn't having it.… (plus d'informations)

This book could definitely have used some pronunciation helps along with the foreign words. Many of these phrases I've read in books but I've never heard pronounced. Now that I know what they mean, I still can't use them in conversation because I still don't know how to pronounce them!

It was a quick read. Each foreign phrase or word was accompanied by a paragraph detailing the first use in English, the foreign meaning, the English meaning, and how it is used in English today. That wasn't bad. It was followed by a use in a humorous sentence (although one sentence misspelled the word and another sentence didn't even use the word - that was funny!)and sometimes a (not very funny) cartoon.

I learned we get the word Robot from a Czech word.

At some point I realized this book was British. Some things about modern usage seemed a bit off. When I got to a description of the word Kabob now being a common bar food I thought "What? No! Hot wings! It's beer and hot wings! I've never had a kabob in my life. (Well, not entirely true as I think I had a kabob at a Middle Eastern restaurant in the late 90's.) Then I looked at the front and it all made sense - yes, the modern English usage is British usage.

Fun to glance through but not especially recommended.

… (plus d'informations)

This book is a fun and easy read and would appeal to anyone who has an interest/curiosity about the origins of the words that we use in our everyday language. There are some surprises contained within its pages and then there are ones that make perfect sense. It also manages to highlight just how much we take for granted in our language usage. I really enjoyed reading this book and am likely to go back to it many times in my life. You can easily pick this book up and read wherever you want in it - it doesn’t need to be read from cover to cover if you don’t want to.… (plus d'informations)

‘’No matter how certainly we know that the spirits of the damned aren’t lurking under ladders hoping that we might sneeze at just the right moment for them to take possession of our bodies, something makes us change our path and look around for someone to say ‘’Bless you’’.

*Ignore the horrible syntax and punctuation of the quote above. This is the least of the problems of this book…*

I’ve always found the superstitions around the world such a fascinating subject. Learning about customs and traditions related to the beliefs, fears, and expectations of (mainly) the people of the past helps us understand some of the things that make us such complex, unique (and difficult) creatures. Is it not telling that no matter how educated we may be, no matter whether we follow a particular religious belief or not, no matter how open-minded we may believe ourselves to be, there are always precautionary rituals observed by most of us. And when I say ‘’most’’, I mean all of us. Anyone who says differently is a liar. Now, this books contains entries on superstitions derived mainly from the Anglo-Saxon tradition but we find a number of world traditions as well. Unfortunately, the writer’s attitude destroyed what could have been an excellent concept.

My mother still has the habit of picking up pennies (which just drives me mad but don’t mind me…). She keeps them inside a special piggy bank and never spends them. My grandma used to find pins everywhere and they used to be her first method of finding a lost item, following a rather obscure (to my knowledge) Mediterranean custom. However, you know what? It worked somehow. Every single time. I’ve seen it happen so I have come to believe- to a certain extent- that there are certain ‘’superstitions’’ that can miraculously work. Beliefs about life, birth, death, love, hate. The moon, the sea, the clocks that stop ticking, the owls and the ravens, every aspect of our lives is related to actions and their consequences. Why shouldn’t nature have its own mind on certain things? Whether these are superstitions or not is for each one of us to decide.

And now, the problems I faced with this book. Well, where to begin? First of all, repetition. This has already been mentioned in the majority of the reviews on Goodreads. Superstitions that could have been merged into one, become five or six different entries. As a result, the writer repeats sentences and observations over and over again, to the point where I felt our intelligence was being insulted. Seriously. Another problem is that she projects her own assumptions as common knowledge or common behaviour. Other times, the supposed information she provides is actually common knowledge. I mean, make up your mind…

I think that the writer’s tone was unnecessarily critical towards the superstitions (or what I prefer to call ‘’traditions’’) derived from religious or folk beliefs. Not practicing them is absolutely fine. I don’t practice or even believe in most of them. However, irony and ill-will criticism irritate me to the high heavens, I’m sorry to say. You want to call yourself a writer? By all means, do. Respect your subject and don’t be condescending because, in the end, you disrespect yourself. In my opinion, every belief should be researched within the context of the era and viewed critically or not but respect is crucial. Trying to appear smart or ‘’progressive’’ as a writer doesn’t interest me as a reader. And a little more respect towards the importance of Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt wouldn’t hurt. I think the writer should take some lessons on respect towards world cultures, beliefs, and religions. In fact, she should take a few lessons on History, in general.

This brings me to the major problem of the book that is already mentioned in two fine reviews on Goodreads. The amount of historical inaccuracies is unbelievable. I mean, dear friends, it is worse than any period drama produced in Hollywood. It would take us pages upon pages to name them all. These are just a tiny part of the most characteristic mistakes the writer and the editor didn’t bother to verify and correct. Who cares about accuracy, right?

1.Everyone and their loving great-grandmother know that Odin’s ravens were called Huginn and Muninn. Rhodes decided to christen them again and Muninn became ‘’Midgard’’. Thankfully, Huginn survived the attack.

2. Women were burned in England during the 1600s under the pretext of Witchcraft. The burning of women condemned for treason continued for many years. There was even a solitary case when a woman was burnt in the early 18th century for committing adultery. Do your research, dear writer! Even a simple Google search is enough…

3. The word ‘’Yule’’ does NOT come from the Old English word ġéol. It is merely a modern English representation of the word that is supposedly derived from the Old Germanic (Gothic to be exact) word jiuleis or the Nordic versions jól and jul, depending on the region. How could a custom of the Germanic people have an Old English name? Even Vikings are more historically accurate.

4. Certain customs attributed to the Russians are actually derived from Balkan traditions, mainly practiced in Serbia and Bulgaria.

5. The belief of not wearing new clothes to a funeral is in all probability Georgian/Victorian (depending on the sources) and not African- American.

I could go on for ages but I need to retain what little is left of my sanity…

So, this is rather problematic. A shame, in my opinion, because the concept is exciting but the writer’s lack of knowledge on how to do a basic research tore down the whole effort. I had read a book written by Rhodes before without having any problems. Probably, because History had nothing to do with the subject. Needless to say, I won’t read the rest of her work and I am sorry to say that I do not recommend this one at all. There are other books on the same subject by writers who actually respect their readers, the material, and their own effort.… (plus d'informations)