The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs - 9780816066742

Praise for the previous hardcover edition:
"...[an] attractive and useful resource book...The editorial consistency is rare and a credit to the skillful selection and editing techniques of Manser...recommended..."&151Booklist

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

A proverb is a saying, usually short, that expresses a general truth about life. Proverbs give advice, make an observation, or present a lesson in a succinct and memorable way. We use proverbs or allude to them quite often in everyday speech: Better safe than sorry; The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Completely updated and expanded, The Facts On File Dictionary of Proverbs, Second Edition includes more than 1,700 English-language proverbs that are widely recognized today—with more than 200 new to this edition. Arranged alphabetically, entries provide the meaning of each proverb, the date it was first recorded, variant forms, other proverbs that are similar and opposite to it in meaning, and examples of the proverb's use.

This second edition has been expanded to include more familiar, long-established proverbs (such as "Call a spade a spade" and "It takes one to know one") as well as more modern ones (such as "You snooze, you lose" and "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus"). Existing entries have been updated to include modern variants (such as "The e-mail of the species is more deadly than mail," a variant of "The female of the species is deadlier than the male," and "The geek shall inherit the earth," a variant of "The meek shall inherit the earth"). This fascinating dictionary offers insight into this unique aspect of our language.

Proverbs covered—old and new—include:

• Absence makes the heart grow fonder
• Actions speak louder than words
• Beauty is but a blossom
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
• Every man is his own worst enemy
• Everything is good in its season
• It takes a village to raise a child
• The leopard can't change its spots
• Never work with children or animals
• Pride goes before a fall
• Truth is the first casualty of war
• Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
• You never know a man until you live with him.