Catch Phrases, Clichés and Idioms: A Dictionary of Familiar Expressions

Catch Phrases, Clichés and Idioms: A Dictionary of Familiar Expressions
ISBN-10
0899504671
ISBN-13
9780899504674
Category
Reference / Dictionaries
Pages
232
Language
English
Published
1990
Publisher
McFarland & Company

Description

Catch phrases such as shop till you drop, cliches like life begins at forty and idioms such as talk the hind leg off a donkey have long enriched the English language in both spoken and written form. Here is a collection of over 20,000 familiar expressions. To the casual reader or the general browser, this book will inform and entertain. To writers it is a treasure trove of idea-starters that will make for more imaginative creative writing.Each phrase is cross-referenced by key word. Thus raining cats and dogs, for example, appears under cat, dog and rain. In most cases, various forms of the word are listed under the root word. So under run you will find not only sayings that include the word run, but those that include running, runneth, runner and run-around.

Other editions

Similar books

  • Catchphrase, Slogan and Cliche
    By Judy Parkinson, Judy Parkinson Staff

    Diamond - A diamond is forever In 1939 the South African company De Beers launched an advertising campaign to promote the tradition of diamond engagement rings , using this as a catch line . It was created by copywriter BJ Kidd from the ...

  • A Dictionary of Catch Phrases, American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day
    By Paul Beale, Eric Partridge

    I've run out of, or I'm short of, money: Brit, underworld since c. ... Well, there exists Robert Burns's 'gentleman and scholar (1786), but I've found no record of the full phrase; perhaps wrongly, I surmise that the latter part – and a ...

  • Dictionary of Catch Phrases
    By Eric Partridge

    I've run out of, or I'm short of, money: Brit. underworld since c. ... Well, there exists Robert Bums's 'gentleman and scholar' (1786), but I've found no record of the full phrase; perhaps wrongly, l surmise that the latter part—and a ...

  • A Dictionary of Catch Phrases
    By Eric Partridge

    1870–1940) crime story has, since c. ... See: keep your fingers... fings ain't wot they used ter (or t') be. ... 1960 when Frank Norman's play, Fings Ain't Wot They Usedt'Be, with lyrics by Lionel Bart, achieved a considerable success.

  • On the Origin of the Clichés and Evolution of Idioms
    By Stanley J. St Clair

    This fascinating work unveils the origins and meanings of almost 400 common English clichés, idioms, axioms, proverbs, similes, and curious words and catch-phrases, salted with a hint of humor.

  • Shorter Dictionary of Catch Phrases
    By Rosalind Fergusson

    This collection will appeal to everyone who has ever wondered about the origin of phrases like "all part of life's rich pattern" and "long time no see".

  • Most Comprehensive Origins of Cliches, Proverbs and Figruative Expressions
    By Stanley J. St. Clair

    The author welcomes your comments. This is the first of three books in this series.

  • The Little Book of Clichés: From everyday idioms to Shakespearian sayings
    By Alison Westwood

    Many of the phrases we use everyday are so woven into our vocabulary that we never think to question their origin or meaning.

  • NTC's Dictionary of Proverbs and Clichés
    By Richard A. Spears

    Anne Bertram and edited By Richard A. Spears, contains approximately 950 old and new proverbs and cliches in use in the English language. Each of the expressions is defined in clear English and illustrated by two or more realistic examples.

  • Dictionary of Popular Phrases
    By Nigel Rees

    It explains what they mean, details their origins and gives illustrated examples. Nigel Rees is the author of the Graffiti books.