Home » Episodes » Throw the Book at Someone

Throw the Book at Someone

Katie in Kalamazoo, Michigan, wonders about the expression throw the book at, meaning to “try every means possible.” Did it originally involve literally throwing books? It’s just a metaphor in which the book refers to “the criminal code.” In the early 1900s, if someone got the book, they received the maximum sentence for a crime. So no, it doesn’t have to do with tossing books — although thwacking books has been used to relieve people of so-called Bible bumps. This is part of a complete episode.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More from this show

Fight the Good Fight

The phrase fight the good fight, which means to “try one’s best” and “attempt to do what’s right” is inspired second of the epistles to Timothy attributed to the apostle Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I...

Recent posts