Pick Up Brewers Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable Designed By Ebenezer Cobham Brewer Displayed As Leaflet

and at least ten pounds, I make no real cleaim of having "read" this entire work, However, I can heartily recommend it to all authors of fiction and readers as well, If you have trivia of the British Isles persuasion, as well as United States or anywhere in the Commonwealth, this overgrown book is a good starting place,
Originally published in, it is more a compendium of miscellany than an encyclopedia or dictionary, Eclectic and verh British, it's the perfect place to look if you need a quick explanation of the Rump Parliament or Morris dance traditions,

I received this as a gift from my husband, who in turn heard about it from Terry Pratchett's book of autobiographical essays, A Slip of the Keyboard.
It has already earned a permanent place on my quick reference shelf alongside the dictionaries and style guides, Before there was the internet any serious English major would have had a copy of Bartlett's on her shefl for reference, I love to page though my copy, a waterstained paperback from the's that's missing a few pages, Reading it is a like a chooseyourown adventure for mythologies and popular culture, As a reference book, this isn't a thing you ever "finish" or stop referring to or read from pageto, It's been my nighttime browing book for about the past three months, and I think I've read enough of it to rate it and sing its praises,

I'm a sucker for browsing books about the intertwining of history, folklore, legend and myth, and this is a great one,

The entries ranging from Bedlam to Domesday Book to Micah Rood's Apples to Lutine Bell to Thule ride that nice middle ground of given enough information but also sparking your interest, half the time, to go off in search of more on the topic.
I learned a lot, and I have much more to learn from these pages,

It should go without saying that this book would be especially useful to writers seeking ideas from history for new works,

Note: I am reading theedition, picked up cheap at a book sale, There are many editions of this volume and, obviously, any of them will do just fine, The information is timeless. A door stop of a reference book about a large swath of US and UK phrases and tables, This is my favorite reference book ever ever ever, Obviously one can't really "read" a dictionary, but nevertheless, this book absolutely

deserves a review,

I have theedition and I don't know how I ever lived without it before, It's so fun to flip through and you're guaranteed to learn something new every time, Everything is in here from pop culture to Roman numerals, It's akin to Wikipedia, but way more fun and interesting! I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't quite what I expected, I was hoping for a more direct phrasebook that indicates colloqualisms and/or idioms in historical context, but it's a bit more of a singleword dictionary reminiscent of the Oxford English Dictionary in its presentation though not nearly so complete.
Still, it's a nice desk reference and my particular edition is introduced by Terry Pratchett, This is one of those reference works that I could just read for hours, I'm such a geek. I use this as a reference book, One thousand two hundred and ninetyeight pages virtually every word of which I read I must have been on a mission, although I cannot remember what! A classic reference for the writer, which I heartily endorse owning.
I fully intend to buy an updated version in, While we're at it, I cannot live without this book, It's the place to go if you want to find out the significance of a golden apple or the difference between a faun and a satyr, And let's face it, who doesn't, Did you know that Aeschylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald head from the claws of an eagle in the air Now, how many of you have read sitelinkSmall Gods by Terry Pratchett Is there nothing Pratchett doesn't know Anyway, this and many other strange and wonderful things are revealed and referenced in what is called a "Dictionary" of Phrase and Fable.
Therefore, do not let the title fool you into thinking you don't need it, Everyone should have it as a bathroom book, That's where it is in my house, Love it!essential for any selfrespecting reader or writer, This edition, with the Terry Pratchett introduction, may have lost some of the older entries a shame but for reliable reference and random browsing, this is a superb source of both knowledge and inspiration.
I love this book. I use it often when needing to choose phrases for writing or just to look up unusual phrases, Keep this on your bedside next to your reading stack

While relaxing and reading my evening repertoire of themillion best books, I periodically, crossed a person a place or phrase that somehow missed my reading repertoire.
When this happens, I reach for my copy of "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, "

Finding what I'm looking for, I'm happy to know that I usually got it right, Looking up such phrases as "Cracker Barrel philosophy", I cannot help glancing at "cracked pots last the longest, " Once in a while, I can stomp Brewers with such phrases as " cover her face mine eyes dazzle she died young, "

For people who suggest that you can find just about anything on the net that is true, However, the net does not have a tactile feel and easy index what's more, it is having to trust his credibility,

So have hours, days, months, years, looking up your favorite phrase and fable,
Various editions of this book are available online in digitized form, But that shouldn't stop you from getting your own physical copy, Nothing can rival the joy of browsing through it you're bound to learn something fascinating along the way, As Terry Pratchett says in the Foreword, it's a storehouse of "little parcels of serendipitous information of a kind that are perhaps of no immediate use, but which are, nevertheless very good for the brain.
"

First published in, Brewer's has flourished for over a century, It has always been the reference book that "reaches the parts others cannot", the option you try if what you are looking for is not in a standard dictionary or encyclopedia.
Even if you don't find what you're looking for, chances are you'll uncover something even more interesting, The fact that it has reached itsth edition published insuggests that it clearly meets a need, even if its exact scope can be hard to pin down precisely.
Certainly, one need look no further with a question about traditional myths and legends from the Erymanthian boar to the Swan of Tuonela, from Aarvak and the Abbasids to zombies and Zoroastrians, theyre all covered.
The latest edition updates the mythical pantheon to include such creatures as the Balrog and Nazgûl, Voldemort and Dumbledore, the Psammead and Zaphod Beeblebrox, to name only a few.


This edition incorporates many new features to tempt the reader a listing of idioms from Spanish, French, and German, first lines in fiction, assorted sayings attributed to Sam Goldwyn, curious place names in Great Britain and Ireland, the dogs, horses, and last words of various historical and fictional figures.
So, while looking for information on freemasonry, you may find yourself diverted to learn that French people dont dress to the nines instead they put on their thirtyone, perhaps in preparation for a bout of window pane licking window shopping.
And if that femme fatale you met last night stands you up this evening, it may be that she has other cats to whip, Or it could be that she has received a messenger from Rome who might be called Aunt Flo by an English speaker,

But as always, its the weird tidbits, stumbled across by sheer accident, that are the real delight, For instance, I could certainly have gotten through my entire life without knowing about the blue men of the Minch , But knowing that they are legendary beings who haunt the Minches the channels separating the Outer Hebrides from the rest of Scotland, occasionally bothering sailors, enriches my life, The added information that they are either kelpies or fallen angels, and are reputed to drag mariners to the bottom of the sea if they fail to answer questions in rhyming couplets in Gaelic, naturally, fills me with unutterable glee.


As do most of the entries in this terrific reference book,


This is absolutely my desert island book, there's no book like it, Granted reference books and mythology are two passions of mine, so this is always going to get me, . . but there really is nothing like this book, Randomly open the pages and you find out the names of famous mythological creatures, infamous characters through out history and the occasional curious saying, The amount of things from this book that goes into my stories, or is the beginning of some crazy bit of research that end up becoming a story,

I can flick through this all day and never get bored because those snippets are astonishing triggers for the imagination,
As a makerupper of stories, it's one of the best reference books you'll ever own, I love this book. I have an older edition and it's falling apart of the use it gets, It's great fun to just browse Brewer's, but what's uncanny is how many times I've come across some obscure reference usually something British and Brewer's has an entry! It's like an early Wikipedia, but quirkier.


Every home should have one! Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is a newer version to previous editions and I dare say much heavier, It is not only a valuable source of previous century and old tales and reference, no this edition was updated to accommodate to new changes, I might add that it has a great deal of Latin phrases which promotes learning of given subject, I would recommend it to general literature use, if not sure who or what specific item means, this book is IT, Like most books, this book did not have a mention of angel Aker, which I am hunting down, None the less, this book has very few pictures unlike most dictionaries I saw, but I deem these to be better ones, especially one that talks about different crowns of rulers and hierarchy of rulers.

Good Luck Guys.
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