The dictionary gives explanations of the meanings and use of proverbs whenever these are obscure. By means of numerous illustrative quotations it also provides

Lists recorded usages and meaning for hundreds of proverbs arranged by key word, from "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" to "Youth must be served."

Little Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs features over 2,000 proverbs and sayings from around the world, arranged across 250 subjects - from 'Books' and 'Borrowing'

Americans have a gift for coining proverbs. "A picture is worth a thousand words" was not, as you might imagine, the product of ancient Chinese wisdom -- it was

Did you know that 'flavour of the month' originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s, when a particular flavour would be spec