The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Quick Reference)

By Jennifer Speake and John Andrew Simpson

Book Overview

From Roman times to the computer age, proverbs have added spice to our language. This new edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs contains over 1,000 of the best-known proverbs from around the world, including 100 new to this edition. For example, did you know that A trouble shared is a trouble halved wasn't recorded before the twentieth century? Or that A watched pot never boils first appears as late as 1848? With new proverbs from the computer world and economics, such as Garbage in, garbage out and There's no such thing as a free lunch, and popular show business phrases like The best thing in life are free, from the 1927 song, this fascinating guide provides every major proverb in use in the twentieth century, old and new. Numerous illustrative quotations provide a documentary history of each proverb from its first recorded use in written English, and earlier related forms in other languages are also provided. Plus, a new thematic index allows the reader to find proverbs dealing with particular subjects and situations as diverse as beauty and bee keeping, warfare and weather.
Up-to-date and authoritative, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs is an invaluable resource for writers, students, phraseologists, and just plain word-lovers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192800027
• ISBN13: 9780192800022
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.9" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Over 1000 Major Proverbs with illustrative quotations.

THE CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF PROVERBS. Edited by John Simpson. with the assistance of Jennifer Speake. Second Edition. 316 pp. Oxford & New York : 1992. ISBN 0-19-866177-0 (hbk.)Although we may think of the proverb as a thing of the past, and tend to associate it with what we naively suppose were 'simpler' rustic folks, the editors assure us that this is far from the case. New proverbs are continually being created, and the modern computer industry, economics; aeronautics, and even show business have all enriched language with their own contributions : 'Garbage in, garbage out;' 'There's no such thing as a free lunch;' 'If anything can go wrong, it will;' 'The best things in life are free;' etc.The present book is a collection of over 1000, and every major proverb in use today is included, with explanations of its meanings and use _whenever they are obscure_. What this last means, of course, is that the editors felt no need to explain the meaning of a proverb when the meaning ought to be perfectly obvious to the native speaker of English.Instead of this, what we have been given are numerous illustrative quotations, all precisely referenced and dated, which show how the proverb has been used down through the ages. Actual quotations are given from a wide range of sources, and dating from as early as the thirteenth century through to today. To some, and especially to readers of pre-modern literature, these quotations will seem a far more valuable use of space than a mere restatement of the meaning of a proverb in modern prose. Each proverb is followed by six or seven of these illustrative examples which give full contexts and can be fascinating to browse through.Another important feature of the book is its new thematic index which allows the reader to quickly find quotations on a wide range of subjects : idleness, bee-keeping, stupidity, stress, disappointment, etc.The book is extremely well-printed in double columns on excellent paper, but is neither stitched nor cloth-covered as it deserves, having instead a glued spine and paper-covered boards, such being the price, I guess, of progress.All in all, this is an excellent book, but don't go to it expecting it to tell you what your own native intelligence should be able to figure out for itself. It has set itself a higher and far more interesting and useful goal, and seems to me to have succeeded admirably.