Dictionary of Proverbs

by George Latimer Apperson, Martin Manser (Editor), Stephen Curtis (Editor)

Compiled from G.L. Apperson's original and painstaking research of nearly three thousand works dating as far back as the twelfth century and earlier, and built upon the foundations of the great Oxford English Dictionary, the Dictionary of Proverbs traces the origins and history of English proverbs and proverbial phrases. The original author has avoided the purely aphoristic and moral, which have little claim to proverbial use, and has codified this notoriously verbal rather than literary form in a way which earned the gratitude of the compilers of the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. The proverbs are grouped alphabetically and by subject, with copious cross-references throughout, rendering the dictionary as great a joy to consult as it is to browse through. This new edition includes over 500 new entries covering new examples, such as The customer is always right, There's no such thing as a free lunch, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, Life is too short to stuff a mushroom, and The family that prays together, stays together.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

656 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Alok Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy read in the leisure and a good reference to fall back to when you need to trace the origin of something that was said by someone or a group of ones. Though the dictionary needs an update very eagerly.