The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs

by Martin H. Manser, David Pickering (Editor), Rosalind Fergusson (Editor)

Praise for the previous
"...an exceptional ready-reference source...conciseness and engaging style...Recommended for all library collections." Library Journal

"A handy reference book...Informative and easy to use for assignments and for browsing..." School Library Journal

"...[an] attractive and useful resource book...recommended for public and academic libraries." Booklist

A proverb is a saying, usually short, that expresses a general truth about life. Proverbs give advice, make an observation, or present a lesson in a succinct and memorable way. We use proverbs or allude to them often in everyday speech. Some examples of proverbs Better safe than sorry; The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The Facts On File Dictionary of Proverbs, Second Edition includes more than 1,700 English-language proverbs 200 of which are new that are widely recognized today. Arranged alphabetically, entries provide the meaning of each proverb, the date it was first recorded, variant forms of the proverb, other proverbs that are similar and opposite to it in meaning, and examples of the proverb's use. This fascinating dictionary will provide readers and students with insight into this unique aspect of our language.

This second edition has been expanded to include more familiar, long-established proverbs (such as "Call a spade a spade"; "It takes one to know one"; and "Worse things happen at sea") as well as a selection of more modern ones (such as "You snooze, you lose" and "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus"). Existing entries have been updated to include modern variants (such as "The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail," instead of "The female of the species is deadlier than the male" and "The geek shall inherit the earth," a variant of "The meek shall inherit the earth"). Additional, all-new features include boxes containing selected lists of proverbs from other languages and cultures.

Other proverbs covered

Genres: Reference, Writing, Poetry

499 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Martin Manser is a professional reference-book editor. Since 1980 he has compiled or edited nearly 200 reference books. He has also compiled and edited many titles that encourage Bible reading.

Reviews

[Nozomi]

I am interested in proverb, not for its life-saving, hazourd-preventitive cause, but its impossible scenario. Like, "fish and guests stink after three days." It's true fish stink, but in my dream today, a child I know came up to me and opened his mouth, there was a perfect goldfish laying quietly on his tounge, he closed his mouth and went away, the next day he came to me again and showed me his tounge, ther was the same gold fish, looking as fresh as he did right out of the water. I told him that I needed to tell his mom that he is keeping a goldfish on his tounge because there will be bacterias and the gold fish will rot one day. I am not sure if this can be turned into a proverb, like "fish out of water kept in mouth never rots."