Dictionary of Proverbs and Their Origins Linda Flavell, Roger Flavell

Web Price: £7.19
RRP: £8.99
ISBN:

9781856267366

Format:

Paperback

Size:
200 x 130 x 21mm

Pages:
278

Published:

13 Mar 2008

Series:

Dictionary
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Did you know that 'if the cap fits' refers to the traditional jester's cap with bells on it - so anyone wearing such a cap could be expected to do something foolish? Or that the ancient Greeks believed that it was camels rather than elephants that never forgot? The Spanish writer Cervantes defined a proverb as 'a short sentence drawn from long experience' and Linda and Roger Flavell trace the origins of over 400 of these invaluable pieces of wisdom. The entries are interspersed with mini-essays on such diverse subjects as The Proverbial Cynic and When there's a R in the Month. The result is essential reading for anyone who delights in words.

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'Extremely useful for reference purposes, but written in an informal style...attractive to the browser.' REFERENCE REVIEW'A fascinating history of pithy, amusing sayings.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE

Linda Flavell has a degree in modern languages and subsequent qualifications in secondary and primary teaching. Flavell has worked as an English teacher internationally and as a librarian. She has written three simplified readers for overseas students and co-authored, with her husband Roger, several dictionaries of etymologies. Roger, who died in December 2005, had many years’ experience working for London University’s Institute of Education, concerned latterly with education and international development, and with online education. The Flavells’ titles for Kyle Books are A Dictionary of English Down the Ages, Dictionary of Proverbs and Dictionary of Idioms, which are also available in a recently revised edition.
Roger Flavell worked for many years at London University’s Institute of Education, concerned latterly with education and international development, and with online education. He travelled widely in pursuit of his principal interests in education and training language teachers. He also worked as an indpendent educational consultant. Roger and his wife Linda Flavell, an English teacher both in England and overseas, shared an enthusiasm for the English languague which shows through in their published Dictionary Series of English Down the Ages, Proverbs, Idioms and Word Origins.