The Cassell Dictionary of Catchphrases

This dictionary was first published in hardback in 1995 and reprinted the same year. In 1996 it appeared in paperback and has been reprinted in 1997. It is obviously a popular book and, as such, probably needs no commendation from me. Nigel Rees has collected catchphrases for many years and first wrote about them in 1980 with a book called Very Interesting … but Stupid. In a preface he attempts to classify the various categories such as Cliche, Format phrase, Idiom, Saying, Slogan and Stock Phrase, agreeing that there is considerable overlap between these classes.

In looking through the...