Dictionaries on line; Thames

[Kevin Windle]

>As an undergraduate studying Russian I repeatedly looked up an expression
>that was only defined as "he won't burn down the Thames."  I don't
>remember the Russian expression, but I've always remembered the English
>(although I'm not sure I understand it).
>
        The expression would have been 'on zvezd s neba ne khvataet - he
won't set the Thames on fire', given as 'coll. iron.' in the Oxford Russian
Dictionary (3rd ed., 2000) under 'zvezda', though not the other way under
'Thames'.

Kevin Windle

Dr Kevin Windle,
School of Language Studies,
Australian National University,
Canberra, ACT 0200

Phone:  +61 2 6125 2885
Fax:    +61 2 6125 3252

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