Really honoured to be on the blog tour for this handy little book. I’ve long been fascinated by the etymology of words, origins of words and phrases. I used to have a few weighty etymology books. The books by Claire are a handy size, condensed, easily readable and saves handling massive tomes

This is the latest book by Claire Cock-Starkey, author of A Book Lover’s Miscellany and A Library Miscellany.

The Real McCoy and 149 other Eponyms is a collection of eponyms – an eponym is a name or noun formed after a person.

I was sent a copy of this book to read as part of the blog tour and I couldn’t wait to read it but had to virtually wrestle with my other half who claimed it because he found it immensely helpful for crosswords and quiz questions on Eggheads his favourite programme. So, if anyone reading this has a friend or family member who is similarly disposed then it’s an ideal present for them. If you live with someone like that you could alternatively buy yourself a copy but read it secretly and enjoy it yourself. Ideal handbag, messenger bag or medium pocket size.

I opened it, sometimes randomly and found something of interest on every page. I’d just read a book about the French Revolution so I found the excerpt for guillotine fascinating. Likewise the one for Everest and Earl Grey tea, two of my favourites. I can only admire the scale of research undertaken by the author to produce this little gem of a book.

Here’s an extract:

The Real McCoy was published by The Bodleian Library and can be purchased from your local bookshop or

From Amazon UK

From Waterstones

Follow the rest of the blog tour