Coverage of Dictionary of Modern Proverbs in Athens, GA newspaper

[Jonathan Lighter]

Charlie, Fred, and Wolfgang have done a terrific job on the Dictionary of
Modern Proverbs.  It's making me smarter every minute!

Seriously, this authoritative collection of _sapientia populi_ shows just
how far we've come from "Waste not, want not," and that stuff.  The editors
include only English-language proverbs (pithy saws of advice or
generalization) that appear to have gained currency since 1900 - and that's
obviously enough to fill a book. This book contains roughly 1,400 of them,
from "You can get straight A's and still flunk life" to "The most important
erogenous zone is the brain." ( See what I mean? There's a helpful appendix
that inventories older proverbs that are still going strong: if you don't
see your favorite in the body of the book, it probably isn't because the
assiduous editors missed it.)

Every proverb comes equipped with its earliest known citation in print,
many have listed variants, and others are subject to brief, informative
discussions.  I'm impressed with the top-notch (i.e., cautious and
meticulous)  scholarship throughout.

 It's an invaluable supplement to the _Yale Book of  Quotations_.  List
members should want this book badly.

JL

On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 4:12 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Coverage of Dictionary of Modern Proverbs in Athens, GA
> newspaper
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Who said it? Answers in UGA prof's modern parables book
> By Lee Shearer
> Published Monday, May 14, 2012
>
> Everyone knows who invented the modern proverb. “Winning isn’t
> everything. It’s the only thing.”
> It was legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
> Just like John Lennon said, “Give peace a chance.”
> Not really, though.
>
> Lombardi and Lennon may have said those things, but they certainly
> weren’t the first, says University of Georgia English professor and
> folklorist Charles Doyle, who should know — he’s now literally written
> the book on modern proverbs, along with fellow literary sleuths
> Wolfgang Mieder of the University of Vermont and Fred Shapiro of Yale.
>
> [Below is a link to the rest of the article.]
>
> http://goo.gl/xh6p6
>
>
> http://onlineathens.com/uga/2012-05-14/who-said-it-answers-uga-profs-modern-parables-book
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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