The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Oxford Quick Reference) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198609205 ISBN 13: 9780198609209

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004

Synopsis

Dazzlingly entertaining, this new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations contains over 5,000 quotations hand-picked by the writer and broadcaster Ned Sherrin. Containing a wide coverage of themes, including forty brand new ones such as Autobiography, Awards and Prizes, Parties, Presidents, Smoking, and Tennis, there is something for everyone on every subject imaginable.

From sharp one-liners to witty quips, there are quotations from classic humorists such as Mae West, Oscar Wilde, and Groucho Marx, to today's well known comedians and wits including Dick Vosburgh, Maureen Lipman, Tracey Ullman, Ben Elton, and Ian Hislop. There are of course quotations from famous luminaries from walks of life other than comedy, from Samuel Johnson to Tennessee Williams, and Albert Einstein to the Duke of Wellington.
With details of where each quotation comes from, who said it, where and when, an author index allowing you at a glance to establish who said what, and a detailed keyword index, this is not just an ideal reference tool but also an invaluable and classic collection.
"France is a country where the money falls apart in your hands and you can't tear the toilet paper."
Billy Wilder

"People don't come in my size until they're old. I used to think people were born with big bones and large frames, but apparently these grow when you're about sixty-eight."
Maeve Binchy

"They say the definition of ambivalence is watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff in your new Cadillac."
David Mamet

"I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!"
George Bush

About this title

Review

Some may search quotation compilations for wisdom or inspiration, but most crack these reference tomes looking for a laugh. Ned Sherrin has therefore done the world a favor by culling the witticisms and snide remarks from the vast quotation libraries, creating a volume completely dedicated to the funny remark. It's superbly browsable, but as the nearly 5,000 quotations are grouped by more than 100 themes, it's also a reference with practical applications. For a quip on consumerism, George Orwell comes through with, "Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket." Dean Martin opines about liquor: "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Ronald Knox defines a baby as "a loud noise on one end and no sense of responsibility on the other," and for politics, Art Buchwald says of Richard Nixon, "I worship the quicksand he walks in." It's an irresistible dictionary. --Stephanie Gold

About the Author

Ned Sherrin is presenter of BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends. Producer and director of the ground-breaking 1960s satire TV show That Was the Week that Was, and producer of a number of films, including The Virgin Soldiers (1968) and Up Pompeii (1971), he has also written extensively for stage and screen. He has directed many theatre productions such as Side by Side by Sondheim (London 1976 and New York 1977) and Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell (1989). He appears regularly on television and has compiled a number of anthologies, including Cutting Edge (Dent, 1984), Theatrical Anecdotes (Virgin, 1991), and Ned Sherrin in his Anecdotage (Virgin, 1993). He has also written a novel, Scratch an Actor (Sinclair Stevenson, 1995).

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0198609205
• ISBN 13: 9780198609209
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 544
• Editor: Sherrin Ned