Book Description

In this edition I have endeavoured to keep down additions as much as possible, so as not to overload the book; but I have not been sparing in adding cross-references (especially in the Index) and quotations from standard authors. These quotations seldom give the first occasion on which a proverb has been used, as in most cases it is impossible to find it. I have placed an asterisk before all recognised proverbs; these will serve as a first course for those students who do not wish to read through the whole book at once. In a few cases I have added explanations of English proverbs; during the eleven years I have been using the book I have frequently found that pupils were, for instance, as ignorant of "to bell the cat" as they were of "attacher le grelot."