The Oxford dictionary of proverbs - Jennifer Speake

This unique and authoritative dictionary contains over 1,100 of the most widely used proverbs in English and uses research from the Oxford English Corpus, the world's largest language databank. This edition has been revised and fully updated and includes numerous entirely new entries. It also features expanded coverage of foreign language proverbs currently in use in English. With an emphasis on examples of usage, including the earliest written evidence of its use,this A-Z guide provides a thorough - and fascinating - history for every entry. Arranged in A-Z format and with a useful thematic index, A Dictionary of Proverbs is ideal for browsing and perfectly suited for quick reference. Look up your old favourites, learn punchy new expressions to get your pointacross, and find the answer to that crossword clue. Seeing is believing: find proverbs relevant to every aspect of life in this entertaining and informative collection.

Jennifer Speake is a freelance writer. She is the editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases (1997) and of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms (1999).

Review from previous edition brilliantly arranged . . . I recommend it without hesitation to all students of the English language and lovers of literature, as well as to pedants, crossword fanatics and those who like to prove people wrong in argument.
Auberon Waugh, Sunday Telegraph

much pleasure, earthy or erudite, and sometimes both, lies here in store
Richard Holmes, The Times