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The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, and Quotation [Paperback]

Elizabeth Knowles (Editor)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)


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Book Description

November 13, 1997 Dictionary
Sometimes a good quote will do, such as "A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he's finished" (Zsa Zsa Gabor). Or perhaps "Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures" (Samuel Johnson). Other times, a proverb seems just right, such as ""wedlock is a padlock" or "marriages are made in heaven" or "marry in haste, repent at leisure." Now, in The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, and Quotation, readers and writers have over 10,000 quotations, proverbs, and phrases, in one convenient volume, the only such reference book available.
The Dictionary covers over 350 themes, providing a wonderfully diverse range of topics, including actors and acting, animals, the arts, bores and boredom, elections, food and drink, kissing, madness, the past, schools, science, taxes, virtue, the weather, and youth. Thus, under Absence, we find quotations such as "The more he looked inside the more Piglet wasn't there" (A.A. Milne), proverbs "absence makes the heart grow fonder," and phrases "gone with the wind." Explanatory notes are given wherever needed, and cross-references point the reader to other relevant themes in the volume. Finally, readers can also consult two different indexes, one organized by author and one by keyword.
Whether you are interested in ambition or conscience, madness or marriage, or business or politics, you will find here the quotation, proverb, or phrase that suits your needs. The Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, and Quotation belongs on the reference shelf of writers, public speakers, occasional toast givers, and everyone else who enjoys that which they've "often thought but never so well expressed."


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When you want to launch a new chapter, win a fight, spice a speech, or merely wax philosophical before the fire, there's nothing like an apt quotation. Elizabeth Knowles has compiled more than 10,000 pithy phrases covering more than 350 themes, from "Absence" and "Achievement" to "Writing" and "Youth." Flip through the pages and there's Sydney Smith saying, "I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland"; Tom Lehrer opining, "Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it"; and Gloria Steinem reflecting, "We are becoming the men we wanted to marry." It's a sparkling collection, so finely indexed that it won't take all day to find the quote you seek.

From Booklist

Like its predecessors, this revised edition will be well used. It brings together a profusion of proverbs, phrases, and quotations, arranged by subject or themes from Ability to Youth. The design and layout are clear and well organized. More than 12,000 bon mots from around the globe are included, and the origins and links of these treasured sayings in our language are traced through numerous cross-references. When themes are closely related, see also references follow the theme title; for example, "News see also Journalism." Under each theme are separate listings for "Proverbs and Sayings," "Phrases," and "Quotations." Items in the first two listings are arranged alphabetically, while quotations appear in chronological order. Sources are provided when they are known.

Proverbs from non-Western languages that have been adopted into English, for example, the Chinese proverb "Trees planted by the ancestors provide shade for their descendents," are identified and plentiful in this new edition. The cornucopia of well-chosen words is drawn from biblical times to the present. Advertising slogans, television catchphrases, political sayings, and even quotes from video games are included. Modern sayings related to the topic at hand, as well as earlier forms of an adage, have been added to many sections. Quotations have been revised and updated.

Nearly a quarter of the book is the extremely useful keyword index, allowing users to find quotes on many more topics like busy, memories, price, and zeal.Libraries typically carry several quotation and proverb dictionaries, all of which have overlapping and unique entries, and it's important to keep the collection fresh. Since this is the third edition in just 10 years, however, libraries owning previous editions may decide it's not an essential purchase. Susan Awe
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 720 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 13, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0198662297
  • ISBN-13: 978-0198662297
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,503,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Many better collections are available., July 7, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, and Quotation (Paperback)
I bought this book by mail hoping that it would be another fascinating book of quotations. Actually, it ranks quite low among the collections available. Look, for example, at "The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century Quotations," and similar ones edited by John M. Cohen and/or M. J. Cohen. You will not be able to resist browsing through them for a long time. This book is less attractive. What purpose is served by the space devoted to lists of cliches: In cold blood, down memory lane, live and let live, etc.? The quotations are often trite, seldom interesting.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well Organized Quotation Book, September 20, 2000
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"elleblue" (W. Bloomfield, MI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, and Quotation (Paperback)
This is very well organized book, the quotations are arranged alphabetically by themes (life, death, love, forgiveness, the old age, past, etc.) and then arranged by index, you can look up any word, eg. Peace, peaceably, peacefully, peace-time). Unlike other quotations book I used before. Topics range this book covers are wide and have more quotations (about 5,000) more than Bartlett Quotation book I own. However this is less bulky and easier to have a reference book on the side
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mid igth century, late igth century, mid loth century, modern saying, lgth century, traditional rhyme, traditional saying
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Francis Bacon, George Bernard Shaw, House of Commons, John Milton, Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, Alexander Pope, Lord Tennyson, New York Times, Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, Sunday Times, Edmund Burke, Rudyard Kipling, Benjamin Disraeli, John Keats, Daily Telegraph, United States, Mark Twain, Robert Browning, William Wordsworth, Jane Austen, John Dryden
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