The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations [Hardcover]

Ned Sherrin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1995

In The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, noted writer and satirist Ned Sherrin has gathered nearly 5,000 quotations in a rollicking collection drawn from an international cast of humorists and pundits, ranging from Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Oscar Wilde to Groucho Marx, Monty Python, and Roseanne. Arranged in themes, from Actors and Acting (including Dorothy Parker's famous barb on Katherine Hepburn's Broadway debut, "She ran the whole gamut of the emotions from A to B") to Parents (P. J. O'Rourke, "Because of their size, parents may be difficult to discipline properly"), to Youth (Georges Courteline, "It's better to waste one's youth than to do nothing with it at all"), Sherrin has left no turn unstoned to collect the sharpest, the wittiest, the wryest in quips, put-downs, and one-liners.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Some may search quotation compilations for wisdom or inspiration, but most crack these reference tomes looking for a laugh. Ned Sherrin has therefore done the world a favor by culling the witticisms and snide remarks from the vast quotation libraries, creating a volume completely dedicated to the funny remark. It's superbly browsable, but as the nearly 5,000 quotations are grouped by more than 100 themes, it's also a reference with practical applications. For a quip on consumerism, George Orwell comes through with, "Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket." Dean Martin opines about liquor: "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Ronald Knox defines a baby as "a loud noise on one end and no sense of responsibility on the other," and for politics, Art Buchwald says of Richard Nixon, "I worship the quicksand he walks in." It's an irresistible dictionary. --Stephanie Gold --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA?One liners, insults, puns, and all manner of clever, witty, and hilariously funny quotes are included in this book. It's a great source for public speakers, writers, trivia buffs, browsers, and anyone who loves a laugh. Who, what, and when information is provided for each entry as well as a keyword and an author index. The 5,000 quotes cover a wide range of themes and time periods.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1st. edition edition (November 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192142445
• ISBN-13: 978-0192142443
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,568,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Welsh
  • #43 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Irish

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource, And A Great Read Too, February 20, 2001

By 

Sir Charles Panther "Life is hard. It's hard... (Alexandria, Virginny, USandA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Hardcover)

A fantastic book of quotations, and the most comprehensive collection of humorous quotes I've yet to come across. The organization is excellent, with an adequate list of themes serving as the table of contents. Further aiding discovery of the perfect quote is an index of authors/sources, and a very well developed keyword index. Both of these supplemental indices are a bit confusing, but not overly so. They list the applicable theme and the numbered entry under that theme; there are no page numbers given. It's a bit confusing on the first few uses, after that it is simple.

The book is a fun, quick read as well, dense (with its relatively small print) with goodies from John Updike, Cheryl Tiegs, Henry Kissinger, Frank Zappa, George Foreman, P. J. O'Rourke, etc. I heartily recommend it.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful (and funny) reference for all, May 24, 2001

By 

"amalim" (Karachi, Pakistan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Hardcover)

Collection of witty, funny, sarcastic or apprantely innocent quotations from famous and not so famous people.

Book is well organized. Quotations are divided into categories. These categories are given in alphabetical order starting from 'Actors and Acting, 'Advertising' to 'Writers and Writing' and 'Youth'. Surprisingly there is no topic with Z! You may also find some every interesting categories. Just to give you an idea there are quotations on 'Quotations', 'Insults and Invective' and 'Censorship'.

For every quotation there is, along with the author name, a brief description of where and when was it said/used and in some cases why was it used. That adds to the meaning of the quote.

Such as why Winston Churchill said 'And they say the old man's getting deaf as well'.

At the end of book, apart from the keywork index, there is also an author index, in case you need quotes from a particular person.

A useful book for adding spice to your speech and writing or just skim through it for literally pleasure.

Just to quote an example from the book: 'I know heaps of quotations, so I can always make quite a fair show of knowledge' -- O. Douglas

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Quote Book, June 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

This book was great. I loved every quote. It had a lot of excellent ideas. I will make you laugh and teach you life leason's at the same time. One of my friends loaned it to me and I had to go out and get my own. If you like quotes then you will love this book.