The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

~ Ned Sherrin (Editor)

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

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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192800450
• ISBN-13: 978-0192800459
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,029,963 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 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 (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.

15 of 17 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

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When you need a great quip that fits the occasion ...look here!, March 22, 2006

By	J. Guild (Toronto,Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

This is a treasure trove of humor for all occasions. There are many books of quotations from all kinds of people and for all occasions and topics; but here the book keeps to what is humorous.It is a great source to have handy; but it also makes for wonderful light hearted reading ,just to start at the front and to keep going.It is organized several ways so that a quote on a subject or by personality is easy to find. It was published in Britain so has a lot of lines that are new over here.
Here are a couple I enjoyed;

On being told that his fly buttons were undone,Winston Churchill commented;"No matter,dead birds do not leave the nest."

To her husband a chicken farmer in California,after a flash flood had wiped out his entire flock. "I told you to stick to ducks."

"Oh what a wonderous bird is the Pelican!
His beak holds more than his belican.
He takes in his beak,food enough for a week,
But I'll be damned if I know the helican."

"I opened it at page 96--the secret page,on which I
wrote my name to catch out borrowers and book sharks."
Flan O'Brien

It'd be hard to find a better book of humorous quotes.