"Many older proverbs passed into English from the Bible or from classical authors. Modern proverbs may have different origins ('garbage in, garbage out' comes from computing, while 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' comes from economics) but people still look for a vivid and concrete image to make a general point." Over 1,100 proverbs are presented here in a thoroughly reader-friendly style, without compromising the scholarly standards that have characterized earlier editions. The history and meaning of each proverb is given, together with up-to-the-minute citations from around the English-speaking world, and there is a thematic index suggesting proverbs appropriate in different situations.