Brewer's Quotations: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary [Paperback]

Nigel Rees (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0304348325 | ISBN-13: 978-0304348329 | Publication Date: March 1998

This dictionary of more than 2000 quotations provides information on a wide range of problematic quotations. Annotations explain the origin and background to famous quotations, highlight popular misconceptions and correct common misquotations. It includes an extensive index of key words. The book includes such examples as "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do", "truth is stranger than fiction", "lead on, Macduff", "come up and see me sometime" and "me Tarzan, you Jane". It corrects readers' misconceptions about Greta Garbo's "I want to be alone" and Julius Caesar's "et tu, Brute", and acts as the final solution to arguments over "who really said what".

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ebenezer Cobham Brewer was a nineteenth-century British compiler of reference books (e.g., Dictionary of Phrase and Fable). Cassell in the U.K. is publishing a series of new works bearing the Brewer name (Brewer's 20th Century Music, Brewer's Politics). This latest volume presents the "most commonly misquoted, misattributed . . . and most disputed sayings," along with an account of each saying's origin and (mis)use.

Rees is the deviser and presenter of BBC Radio's quiz show, Quote . . . Unquote, through which he has become an authority on the popular use of language. From his editorial commentary we learn that quotation and attribution are far more complex than is generally realized. Sayings mutate in form and meaning, are attributed to whomever suits the quoter's purpose, and settle incorrectly into quotation books. This book is a browser's delight. Selection ranges throughout history and the globe, with a heavy leaning toward British sources. Rees provides quotations' offspring of book and film titles, along with parodies and other adaptations. Contemporary quotations are well represented. "Do your own thing" turns out to have originated with Emerson. "Love me, love my dog" originated with St. Bernard the theologian, not the St. Bernard after whom the breed was named. The work is arranged by names of people quoted. Since sayings are often misattributed or misquoted, the best way to find them is through the index of keywords, where each quote is indexed in correct and misquoted wording.

Magill's Quotations in Context (Harper & Row) selects quotations from world literature and provides surrounding text. Earlier history or subsequent evolution is not considered. Of "I have promises to keep," Brewer's gives examples of how President Kennedy frequently and variously misquoted it. Magill's offers a traditional explication. Brewer's Quotations is unlike traditional quotation dictionaries that purport to offer exact sources and offer thematic access. The tracing of each saying's usage brings to mind the children's game, Telephone, in which messages become delightfully scrambled or creatively enlarged as they are passed along. Entertaining and authoritative, this is a good addition to the basic collection. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Pub Co Inc (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304348325
• ISBN-13: 978-0304348329
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,607,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nigel Rees is a British writer and broadcaster, best known as deviser and presenter of BBC Radio's Quote ... Unquote program which began its long run over 35 years ago. He is a leading authority on quotations and other well-known phrases and sayings, is a past President of the Lichfield Dr Johnson Society and was recently described by The Spectator as 'Britain's most popular lexicographer'.

Born near Liverpool in 1944, Nigel took a degree in English at Oxford and then went straight into television with Granada in Manchester. He made his first TV appearances on local shows in 1967 before moving to London as a freelance. He reported for ITN's News at Ten and then became presenter of a wide range of programs for BBC Radio - news, current affairs, arts and entertainment - including two years on the breakfast-time Today show.

He is the author of more than fifty books - mostly devoted to popular aspects of the English language and especially the humour that derives from it. His most recent titles include: A Word In Your Shell-Like: 6,000 Curious & Everyday Phrases Explained and Brewer's Famous Quotations: 5,000 Quotations and the Stories Behind Them. He is currently publishing e-books under the series title The Best Guide to ------ , including Humorous Quotations and Movie Quotes.