Release date 26/04/2001

The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions

• Beautiful like Venus
• Suffer like Sisyphus
• A miser like Scrooge
• A hero like James Bond
• Wholesome like Cliff Richard

Allusions form a colourful extension to the English Language. They provide us with a literary shorthand for describing people, places, and events, and are drawn from a variety of sources. From classical mythology and the Bible come the Wooden Horse of Troy, Achilles, Jason leader of the Argonauts, and also Adam and Eve who feature under a variety of headings including Happiness, Innocence, Nakedness and Punishment. Folklore and legend, cinema, television, cartoons and children’s stories also yield popular allusions including Cinderella, James Bond, Mary Poppins; and under Criminals are Al Capone, Fagin and Arthur Daley.

The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions is based on an extensive reading programme that has identified the most commonly-used allusions and a wealth of quotations are included to illustrate usage, drawn from a range of authors and sources, from Thomas Hardy to Ben Elton, Charles Dickens to Bridget Jones’s Diary.

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