The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches (The Facts on File Writer's Library)

A guide to more than 3,500 clichâes explains the meanings of such phrases as "give the devil his due," and "gild the lily," and traces the history of these expressions.

Lexicographer Ammer (American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms) here offers a revised edition of her Have a Nice Day No Problem: A Dictionary of Cliches (LJ 1/92). The update, which includes about 500 more entries, offers the meanings and origins of some 3500 expressions along with sources, histories of usage over time, and levels of use today. The volume includes such recent additions as "get a life," "been there, done that," and "push the envelope" as well as old favorites like the recently resurrected "united we stand," which the author traces back to Chaucer. The index is helpful in locating entries for expressions subsumed under similar sayings, and cross references are found in the text as well. While several resources on cliches are currently available (e.g., Nigel Rees's Cassell's Dictionary of Cliches, LJ 5/15/97), this one stands apart for the large number of citations. Given the speed with which language develops, newer publications of this sort are always welcome. Recommended for academic and public libraries. Denise J. Stankovics, Rockville P.L., Vernon, CT

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