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The Wordsworth Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable (Wordsworth Reference) (Wordsworth Reference)
The Wordsworth Reference Library includes language dictionaries, language guides, historical references, and much more. This popular series covers everything from the familiar and practical to the extraordinary and outrageous.
Published
(first published 1870)
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Various editions of this book are available online in digitized form. But that shouldn't stop you from getting your own physical copy. Nothing can rival the joy of browsing through it - you're bound to learn something fascinating along the way. As Terry Pratchett says in the Foreword, it's a storehouse of "little parcels of serendipitous information of a kind that are perhaps of no immediate use, but which are, nevertheless very good for the brain."
First published in 1870, ...more
First published in 1870, ...more
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Did you know that Aeschylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald head from the claws of an eagle in the air? (Now, how many of you have read Small Gods by Terry Pratchett? Is there nothing Pratchett doesn't know?) Anyway, this and many other strange and wonderful things are revealed (and referenced) in what is called a "Dictionary" of Phrase and Fable. Therefore, do not let the title fool you into thinking you don't need it. Everyone should have it as a bathroom book. ...more
This is possibly the most fun "pick up and browse" book around.
How can you not love this book? And, I must note, that Brewer's is quite a bit more informative than the Oxford dictionary of the same name. Brewer's seems, at least, to have fewer things of general knowledge (meaning I came across more things that I didn't know) and had more well-written entries. Brewer's avoids Oxford's habit of assuming the reader knows the meaning of the colloquial express it's trying to describe.
This is one reference book that no one should be without.
Okay, we all have out wikipedia and our googles for looking up those half remembered legends, histories and origin myths but Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is still an absolute delight to casually flip through.
Okay, we all have out wikipedia and our googles for looking up those half remembered legends, histories and origin myths but Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is still an absolute delight to casually flip through.
Gina
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone with a love of mythology and refrence boks
This is absolutely my desert island book, there's no book like it. Granted reference books and mythology are two passions of mine, so this is always going to get me...but there really is nothing like this book. Randomly open the pages and you find out the names of famous mythological creatures, infamous characters through out history and the occasional curious saying. The amount of things from this book that goes into my stories, or is the beginning of some crazy bit of research that end up b...more
Browsing through this book is like digging for treasure - you never know what you will find. It's a great esoteric reference book containing a massive amount of information.
This is my absolute favorite reference book. I usually want to look up something and end up skipping through it for hours. A book that should be on every shelf.
Love this!
Fun just to open to random page and start reading...
I wish I could have every edition.
Fun just to open to random page and start reading...
I wish I could have every edition.
I remember reading much from it when I was around 13/14 (yes, I was that geeky) ...
Full of very interesting tid-bits. An amazing resource!
Well, THAT only took seven and a half years.
Mine is the 1981 Centenary Edition, Revised.
This book really is a must have. Have you ever wondered who Zeno was? Or where the phrase, 'to swing a cat' came from? Life and literature are full of references to phrases and fables that I'm never totally sure of. But this is also a fun book to just pick up and flick through.
Possibly not a book to read from cover to cover, but a joy nonetheless.
Possibly not a book to read from cover to cover, but a joy nonetheless.
Before there was the internet any serious English major would have had a copy of Bartlett's on her shefl for reference. I love to page though my copy, a water-stained paperback from the 80's that's missing a few pages. Reading it is a like a choose-your-own adventure for mythologies and popular culture.
For all you aspiring writers out there... This is a book with thousands of story beginnings. Just pick a page and let your finger fall where it may. I guarantee you'll find an interesting passage worthy of a short story at least!
While we're at it, I cannot live without this book. It's the place to go if you want to find out the significance of a golden apple or the difference between a faun and a satyr. (And let's face it, who doesn't?).
One of those reference books everyone should have, and one of the few reference works not totally superceded by the internet.
This is one of those reference works that I could just read for hours. I'm such a geek.
This is a simply wondrous compendium of all the useless trivia you could hope to imbibe.
This is my favorite reference book ever ever ever.
A must have on anyone's shelf!
MUST HAVE. I consult this regularly.
Lots of fun to look things up in!
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