The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches: Meanings And Origins of Thousands of Terms and Expressions (Writers Library) [Paperback]

Christine Ammer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2006 | Series: Facts on File Writer's Library

More than 4,000 cliches compiled in one fun, easy-to-use guide.

Praise for the previous hardcover edition:
"...an excellent resource for word lovers...inherently fascinating and an excellent place to look for old chestnuts galore..." Library Journal

"...[thorough]...Recommended..." Booklist

The Facts On File Dictionary of Cliches, Third Edition is the largest, most comprehensive, and most entertaining reference of its kind. Featuring hundreds of new cliches, this updated and expanded edition explains the meanings and origins of more than 4,000 cliches and common expressions. Each entry includes the meaning of the cliche or expression, its origin and early uses, its historical development, and its present-day usage. This fully indexed and cross-referenced resource is essential for students, writers, and anyone seeking the gift of gab.

New entries include:

-"Don't go there"
-"Flavor of the month"
-"Ground zero"
-"Not so much"
-"Show me the money"
-"So yesterday"
-and more.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Christine Ammer acknowledges in the preface to this second edition of her dictionary of cliches that it may seem oxymoronic for her to speak of updating a dictionary of cliches by adding new cliches. But of course every cliche is new at some blurry point along a time line, just as others gradually fall out of favor. Thus, as a linguist whose concern is current usage, Ammer has not only added new ones (new in the sense of having recently become established as cliches) but she has culled and discarded many older cliches--such as "alas and alack" and "blot one's copybook"--that appeared in the first edition but that are rarely seen or heard nowadays.

Taking the long view of the historian, Ammer regards a collection such as hers as giving form to "the particularity of an era's attitude." A pointed example is drawn from the testimony of a young soldier pressed by her comrades to participate in harassment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Her response, when agreeing to join in, was "OK. Whatever." This example, along with several others, appears in the entry for whatever, which Ammer says is "one of the most recent additions to clichedom," noting, too, that it is used very loosely. Her own definition--"in any case; anything goes; as you wish"--is certainly adequate, though it hardly accounts for the word being sometimes "irksome, and even incendiary, as well as nonchalant." In this connection, she adduces the actor Russell Crowe's assault on a hotel clerk who uttered the word with a greater measure of disrespect than Crowe thought appropriate. (It's an absolute delight to find such matters brought up in discussing meaning and usage.) The thoroughness of this entry is typical of the whole, and the same thoroughness may be found in the indexing, which permits both phrasal and keyword searches. Recommended for all libraries wanting to keep their collection of English-language resources current. Harold Cordry
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Christine Ammer is the author of more than three dozen popular reference books on subjects ranging from classical music to women's health. For the past 20 years, she has concentrated on language. Her other books on words and phrases include The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms; Cool Cats, Top Dogs, and Other Beastly Expressions; Fighting Words: From War, Rebellion, and Other Combative Capers; and Fruitcakes and Couch Potatoes and Other Delicious Expressions. She also writes a column on terms from military history for Military History Quarterly. She lives in Lexington, Massachusetts. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 534 pages
• Publisher: Checkmark Books; 2 edition (March 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816062803
• ISBN-13: 978-0816062805
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Cliches

More About the Author

Christine Ammer is a lifelong student of language. She is the author of several dozen popular reference books, on subjects ranging from classical music to women's health. In recent decades she has concentrated on language, especially colloquial expressions. She lives and looks into words in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stuffed to the gills with cock and bull stories, May 12, 2006

By 

A. Ryan "Merribelle" (Westminster, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches: Meanings And Origins of Thousands of Terms and Expressions (Writers Library) (Paperback)

After an art instructor of mine expressed a passing interest in the original meanings of expressions, I decided to search the Amazon to find him an appropriate Teacher Appreciation Day gift book. I could not believe the numerous results that popped up not only from my initial query, but from trails like "customers who bought this item also bought..." and "explore other similar items...". Jeez, who knew - and why didn't I know - that all these wonderful references existed! I picked out five of the most highly rated ones and set about vetting them for the best. The winner: the Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches.

With almost 4,000 entries, this certainly qualifies as the most extensive book of clich? listings that I've come across so far. There are a plethora of old favorites that may have their origins in the Bible, poetry, literature, or historical developments that have long since sunk into obscurity; and there are 500 newer, i.e. late 20th Century updates like "no-brainer" and "bad hair day". Each entry describes the meanings, origins and early uses (when known), development and present-day useage. The author also provides sample quotes just like "real" dictionaries do.

For my purposes, I was also searching for a clich? reference book that was both entertaining *and* brief in descriptions and explanations (my teacher is a bit dyslexic). FOFDOC was also the best compromise between those two somewhat conflicting qualities. I could have gone with Myron Korach's Common Phrases and Where They Come From, but some of the stories were a bit long-winded (clich?s are infectious, no?) and besides, it wasn't nearly as extensive at only about 500 listings. On the other hand (ooooh, there I go again!), James Rogers' Dictionary of Cliches was the closest contender in terms of quality, but still fell short (I realize now that I just can't help myself) in quantity at only @ 2,000.

I found myself referring to the FOFDOC often in the last few weeks while I waited for Teacher Appreciation Day. I am thinking of getting a copy for myself now, and by extension for my children when they'll be old enough to need a writer's reference. Now, what to do with the other four?
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A recommended reference acquisition for both high school and college-level holdings, December 11, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches: Meanings and Origins of Thousands of Terms and Expressions (Facts on File Library of Language and Literature) (Hardcover)

The meanings and origins of literally thousands of words and definitions come to life in a newly expanded, updated edition of a popular title, which adds hundreds of new cliches from all walks of life -including the business world as well as popular culture - and provides an indexed, cross-referenced survey of all. It's a recommended reference acquisition for both high school and college-level holdings - and many a public library will also find it important.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars These aren't just cock and bull stories, November 20, 2008

By 

Jonathan Appleseed - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches: Meanings And Origins of Thousands of Terms and Expressions (Writers Library) (Paperback)

For a logophile such as myself, this book is a treat. Since acquiring it, I've made it a habit (as I've done with some other books in the Facts on File collection) to randomly review at least ten of the entries per day, as "work," and often peruse it just for fun.

A good example of an entry is "all in a dither: In a jittery, agitated state. This expression dates from the early 1800s, when it also was put as *of a dither*. The noun dither comes from the Middle English verb didderen, meaning to 'tremble.' A newer synonym is *in a tizzy,* dating from the first half of the 1900s. Its origin is not known."

Aside from the source of the phrase, this is a useful book to learn *what not to say.* If a word or phrase is clichéd, it shouldn't be used. In a nutshell, one could consider this book a safe haven from the etymological equivalent of giving up the ghost.