The Pedant's Revolt: Why Most Things You Think Are Right Are Wrong

Pedants, revolt! In this irreverent, smart, obscenely entertaining book, Andrea Barham shatters the myths, misconceptions, fallacies, and falsehoods about all the things you thought you knew (and a few you never considered).

Lead pencils can give you lead poisoning.… Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head….One dog year equals seven human years….Marie Antoinette said “Let them eat cake!”…Spelling Christmas “Xmas” is disrespectful….Fact or fiction? The Pedant’s Revolt: Know What Know-It-Alls Know sets the record straight on everything from the truth about starving a fever to why you shouldn’t “go for the burn.”

In chapters literary, medical, grammatical, historical, scientific, and biblical, you’ll discover the facts behind the fallacies that have somehow become accepted wisdom. From insects to food, grooming to Greeks, bumblebees to whales…from the animal kingdom to assassinations, Harpo Marx to Shakespeare, and questionable quotes such as “It’s all Greek to me,” this remarkable book reveals the often surprising origins of the legends and folklore we mistake for the gospel truth—and teaches you to think twice before repeating them.

Andrea Barham is the author of The Pedant’s Revolt, and is a technical writer in the U.K. While she is a big fan of the world, she feels that there should be less wrongness and more rightness in it. Painfully aware of her inability to correct the bigger issues such as war, poverty, and global warming, she is concentrating on smaller issues more suited to her skills, which consist of “looking stuff up.” By correcting common misconceptions such as the belief that your heart stops when you sneeze, she is hoping to create a domino effect and that eventually all wrongs will be righted, though she is not holding her breath (which, incidentally, you cannot die from). The Pedant’s Return is her sixth book.