Review by Choice Review
Palmatier has written two previous dictionaries, Sports Talk: A Dictionary of Sports Metaphors (CH, Sep'89) and Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors (CH, Oct'95). In this work, he has drawn from 33 popular and scholarly terms that identify and discuss the literal language of cooking and eating food. A nonliteral food term is one that has taken on one or more senses other than its original association with food; for example, a "roast" can mean a piece of meat (literal) or a friendly putdown (nonliteral). The cited sources used along with their abbreviations are listed at the beginning of the book. Each entry lists the food term or expression followed by an example of its grammatical use and a definition of its meaning. The author then uses the cited sources to determine the earliest date the food term was used, the name of the source on which the term is based, and the date of the first recorded use of the term. An explanation that ties the literal meaning of the food source to its nonliteral meaning is then given. The index lists the food sources and their corresponding terms in alphabetical order. Recommended for high school, public, and academic libraries. S. Marien; American University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Perhaps overestimating the demand for phrase books, this compendium of food metaphors and idioms compiles 775 terms in alphabetic order. Entries open with variant phrasing and a list of coded titles keyed to 33 primary sources that range from the witty Hog on Ice and Other Curious Expressions (Harper, 1948) to the venerable Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms (1986). The work concludes with 61 pages of terms classified by subjects, such as bread, garbage, and maple. Palmatier's effort suggests the intense scrutiny of a wordsmith and purveyor of pop culture. His selection of entries covers the Shakespearian (caviar to the general), the biblical (land of milk and honey), the Aesopian (sour grapes), and the more contemporary (slush fund), along with regionalized metaphors (lamb fries for fried lamb's testicles) and drug slang (such as nose candy and stoned out of your gourd). His scholarship deserves respect for its objectivity and meticulous cross-referencing, which links po'boy with submarine sandwich and frappe with milk shake. Entries average 15 to 20 lines, each composed in readable, unfussy prose. Front matter clarifies and justifies the study of nonliteral terms based on cooking and food. Suggestions for using the dictionary are helpful, as are three pages of abbreviations and symbols used in the text and a two-page guide to comprehending entries. Proofreading is adequate but missed horse raddish. An index would have opened the text to language founts, providing access to phrases from Wordsworth, architecture, advertising, or railroad lore, to name a few possibilities. The surprise element of Palmatier's dictionary is the imbalance between the dull, pictureless presentation and the whopper price. Although it will likely enjoy a long shelf life, the cost of the book is about twice the value. Large public and academic libraries might consider adding the volume to their collections, but for the small public or school library struggling with budgets, the use of earlier phrase books or multiple Internet sources will suffice.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review