This dictionary is organized in sets of proverbs, where the English proverb is followed by one or more Italian equivalent proverbs. The English proverbs are arranged according to a main word. Equivalent proverbs are those which express the same concept, be it literally or with different words.

Proverbs included in this collection come from monolingual, bilingual and multilingual collections, some as old as the 16th century, and it should be accepted that some of them are contradictory, discriminatory, blasphemous or scurrilous and as such they reflect past attitudes and express the idiosyncrasies of a people and their culture through time and history. At the same time, proverbs are based on the practical experience of humankind and show us that we can change and do better.

While proverbs are still used today in a traditional way, that is in speech, literature and teaching, they have found a new ever-expanding use in the advertising industry and in the mass media. Proverbs like "Here today, gone tomorrow" become "Hair today, gone tomorrow" in the hair-removal industry, while the mass media has a variety of paraphrases such as "Hear today, gone tomorrow," "Heir today, gone tomorrow." Before the Barcelona Olympic Games, the old proverb "All roads lead to Rome" became "All roads lead to Barcelona" in many English language newspapers and magazines. This is a phenomenon encountered in many languages today and is undoubtedly a sign of the proverb's resilience and vitality.

As travel has become more frequent than in the past, more people learn foreign languages and proverbs are borrowed from the cultures they come in contact with. It is good, therefore, to be familiar with them. Read by native speakers, the proverbs in this dictionary will allow you to practice the language you are studying, by helping you improve your pronunciation, enrich your vocabulary and become familiar with the structure of the language.

Ariella Flonta

Stemme