The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs, Second Edition

This was a gift for my brother who is both silly and serious. He loved the book.

This is one of those books that I don't refer to too often, but when I do, it is an invaluable resource. Great for freeing up writer's block...great for attributing those proverbs that you hear often. Just one of those books that I love having at my fingertips!!

A proverb is a short saying used to illustrate a general truth, and this handy guide is quite useful and very entertaining. Proverbs are listed alphabetically, and each entry includes an explanation, an example from literature, origin, variants, cross references when appropriate, and a list of sayings with similar or opposite meanings. For example, the entry "neither a borrower nor a lender be" reads:It is advisable never to borrow or lend anything, specifically money: " 'Neither a borrower nor a lender be' is a lesson I learned too late, after losing $200 and the friend who borrowed it." The proverb comes from Shakespeare's play Hamlet (1:3; 1600-01) and is part of Polonius's advice to his son Laertes. The book concludes with indexes by keyword and by theme as well as a bibliography. The print is clean and I was able to find all of the proverbs in which I was interested. My only complaint is that the year of origin is given, but not the source.