A Dictionary of Proverbs

by John Andrew Simpson (Editor), Jennifer Speake (Editor)

"Another day, another dollar," "There's no such thing as a free lunch," "Better to live one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep," "There is more than one way to skin a cat"--readers will discover a wealth of pithy proverbs in this entertaining and informative collection. This
unique dictionary contains more than 1,100 of the most widely used proverbs in English, based on research from the Oxford English Corpus, the world's largest language databank. This edition has been revised and fully updated and includes many new entries. With expanded coverage of foreign language
proverbs currently in use in English and an emphasis on examples of actual usage, including the earliest evidence of each phrase, this dictionary is both wide-ranging and thorough. Arranged in A-Z format but with a valuable thematic index, this book is ideal for browsing and perfectly suited for
quick reference. Find your old favorites or learn vivid and concrete new expressions to sum up thoughts, pass on advice, or to make a point.

Genres: Reference, Dictionaries, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 2003

About the author

John Simpson joined the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary in the summer of 1976. He was appointed Chief Editor in 1993. He is a member of the English Faculty at Oxford and of the Philological Society (where the idea of the Dictionary was first mooted in the 1850s), and a Fellow of Kellogg College. He is a world expert on proverbs and slang, and has edited dictionaries on both these subjects for Oxford University Press; he regularly lectures and broadcasts on the English language and on the Dictionary.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[Henrik Haapala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caveat emptor. let the buyer beware

Festina lente, make haste slowly

Aquila non captain muscas, The eagle does not catch flies; meaning important people do not concern themselves with trifling matters or Insignificant people.

[Marian]

Realised how much I talk in proverbs. Read to learn to steer clear of them. Not the best when writing for originality, unless it is to subvert them, or has a character who quotes a lot of proverbs. Not so in my case. It was interesting to find the origins of the proverbs, mostly dating way later than the times I am writing in.

[Ruth Bogan]

Haven't done more than crack this one yet, but already I love it because there's a thematic index as well as keyword cross references within the text. Keeping with the crow theme, the entry at 'crow' steers you to FIRST, HAWKS, ONE, COCK and CROWING, each of which is an entry for proverb featuring, you guessed it, a crow. More to follow.

Later--Finished. Lots of historical usage notes. Definitely a British bias.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, maybe I read the cheesiest proverbs to Jessica, which did not endear this book to her. All in good fun. Some of these proverbs trace their roots back to biblical times or the middle ages, but most are referenced in the past five hundred years, mostly English and American, but there is a smattering of worldly cultures too.
I read two pages a day, dotting the ones I hadn't heard before and "starring" the ones I felt were relevant to my life, especially pertaining to my role as a father. Maybe one day, I will pull these starred entries from the book and write them on a kitchen chalkboard as food for thought for Nico and Mateo (as well as for Jessica and myself).

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too many I didn't already know, which was disappointing. But good histories on those listed.