{"product_id":"9781632209528","title":"Holy Cow!: Doggerel, Catnaps, Scapegoats, Foxtrots, and Horse Feathers--Splendid Animal Words and Phrases","description":"We love animals but insult humans by calling them everything from weasels or pigs to sheep, mice, chickens, sharks, snakes, and bird-brains. Animal epithets, words, and phrases are so widespread we often take them for granted or remain ignorant of the fascinating stories and facts behind them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpanning the entire animal kingdom, \u003ci\u003eHoly Cow!\u003c\/i\u003e explains:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   Why hot dogs are named after canines. Why people talk turkey or go cold turkey.\u003cbr\u003e   Why curiosity killed the cat, although dogs are more curious about us.\u003cbr\u003e   Why letting the cat out of the bag originally referred to a duped shopper.\u003cbr\u003e   What a horse of another color is, what horsefeathers politely alludes to, why a mule is a lady’s slipper, and what horseradish has to do with horses.\u003cbr\u003e   Why the combination of humans and cows probably led to capitalism—its name from Latin for head, as in heads of cows.\u003cbr\u003e   Why holy cow and sacred cow have almost opposite meanings.\u003cbr\u003e   Whether people actually chewed the fat or ate crow (and why it’s a crowbar).\u003cbr\u003e   How a hog became a motorcycle and a chick a young woman.\u003cbr\u003e   What happens to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.  What buck has to do with being naked. Why the birds and the bees. \u003cbr\u003e   Why a piggy bank and why one feeds the kitty.\u003cbr\u003e   What lame ducks have to do with U.S. presidents.\u003cbr\u003e   How red herring came about via activists opposed to fox hunting.\u003cbr\u003e   Where snake oil, popular in the 1800s and rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, came from.\u003cbr\u003e   That the proverbial fly in the ointment goes back to the Bible’s Ecclesiastes (10:1).\u003cbr\u003e   How Swiss watchmakers created teensy-weensy coaches for fleas to pull in flea circuses.\u003cbr\u003e   And much—much!—more.       \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDon't be a lame duck and get this book!            \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Skyhorse Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152022847728,"sku":"9781632209528","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781632209528_p0.jpg?v=1763673820","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781632209528","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}