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.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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.
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".
The author welcomes your comments. This is the first of three books in this series.
Many of the phrases we use everyday are so woven into our vocabulary that we never think to question their origin or meaning.
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.
It explains what they mean, details their origins and gives illustrated examples. Nigel Rees is the author of the Graffiti books.