November 1, 2009 I Love It When You Talk Retro (St. Martin’s) by Ralph Keyes explains the origins of colorful phrases for which younger people may have no cultural context, like saying someone sounds like a broken record or an object is bigger than a breadbox.
reviews-retro
Philadelphia Inquirer
January 17, 2010 As for gung-ho, Ralph Keyes points out in his new I Love It When You Talk Retro that it was the motto of a New Zealand group, taken from the Chinese words kung and ho – work and together. A colonel in the South Pacific adopted it for his Marine battalion, and …
Buffalo News
February 7, 2010 From pink slips to red tape, from asking “Where’s the beef?” to looking a gift horse in the mouth, American English has thousands of interesting colloquialisms. Benchmarks are still vital today, but who remembers that they were once small metal markers placed in the ground by surveyors? Ralph Keyes does. The author …
Regina's Books for All Ages
Regina Sunderland’s book reviews, book announcements, book introductions and book discussion club. It’s all about books! April 19, 2010 Buzz up! What a find at my local Library. I am one of those goofy people who simply love to use retro phrases and enjoy discovering where they come from. I Love It When You Talk …
The Land of Curly Hair
March 31, 2010 BOOKS I FINISHED – MARCH 2010 This was another totally random selection off an endcap at the library. I read it in little snippets over the month. Loved it! I’ll probably buy a copy for our family, as I think it’s an excellent way to chalk up some time for English and …
Little Blog of Stories
March 13, 2010 Ah, the title says it all! I Love It When You Talk Retro, by Ralph Keyes, is a wonderful peek into the lost origins of some of America’s most beloved and obscure words and phrases. Did you know that the word ‘doofus’ came from Popeye the comic strip? Didn’t think so! I’d …