The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
Edited by Jennifer Speake.
Published by Oxford University Press, 2003.
This is a 5.5" by 8.5" clothbound book running to 375 pages including a thematic bibliography and an index, plus an introduction and list of abbreviations.
The introduction says, "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (sic; title is not "Concise" on the title page) provides a general history of proverbs in common use in Britain in the last two hundred years." It later defines a proverb as "a traditional saying which offers advice or presents a moral in a short and pithy manner."
This dictionary presents proverbs in the alphabetic sequence of the first significant word (omitting words like "a," "every," "one," etc.). Numerous cross-references are added to the sequence.
For each proverb, the earliest known example of its use in literature (in any verbal formulation) is given, followed by some other examples (in the style of the Oxford English Dictionary) to show how the use of the proverb in context has changed over time. Additionally, proverbs are given some notes to explain aspects of meaning or to indicate an original source of the proverb outside of English literature (Old French, the Bible, etc.).
The basis of this dictionary is proverbs presently used in British culture, but the book includes common proverbs that originated in the United States as well, like, "There is no such thing as a free lunch" and "Different strokes for different folks."
This is a handy and well-done reference book.
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