English proverbs explained

About this book

This is a fascinating collection of hundreds of English proverbial expressions. These include sayings which go back to the very roots of language, quotations from great writers which have become proverbial, and popular phrases which are widely used and known. The compilers not only pithily define and illustrate the proverbs but also trace them back to their origins wherever possible. There are copious cross-references which show how many expressions relate to a common core of folk wisdom. A very full and useful index is also included, and there is a section of biographical details of people mentioned in the book. English-speaking people throughout the world are familiar from infancy with such phrases as 'a stitch in time saves nine' and 'first come first served', but they will find new light shed on these and on less familiar proverbs by the compilers. Those to whom English is a second or foreign language will be greatly helped by the definitions, since proverbial expressions are notoriously bewildering.

Themes & subjects

About the authors

Clifford Witting

September 1907 – 1968

Clifford Witting was an English writer who was educated at Eltham College, London, between 1916 and 1924. During World War II he served as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, 1942-44, and as a Warrant Officer in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 1944-46. His first novel, a detective story titled *Murder in Blue*, was published in 1937. His series characters were Sergeant (later Inspector) Peter Bradford and Inspector Harry Charlton. Unusually, he didn't join The Detection Club until 1958 by which time he had written 12 detective novels. [Source: Google Books]