Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics: Modern Idioms and Where They Come from

Gareth Carrol presents a collection of ＂modern idioms＂, which have become a part of our vocabulary in the past 50 years or so. In most cases, idioms such as ＂raining cats and dogs＂, that colour our everyday communication, are deeply rooted in culture and history. However, just like words, new idioms emerge in language, and many have entered our vocabulary through, TV, movies and the internet. These modern idioms can be dated very precisely. Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics finds the origins of these idioms, and charts their development.

Gareth Carrol is a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Birmingham. His work looks at how people use and understand figurative language, including idioms, metaphor and other non-literal forms of expression. He has written articles on these topics for a range of academic journals. He lives in Birmingham with his wife and cat.