I love Le Mot Juste. My 1987 edition copy is well-worn. It is good to see that the book is continuing to be updated. Sylvester Mawson's original version was published in 1934!

Nearly always, I have been successful in finding expressions I have looked up in these pages. But, if you are like me, a lover of lists, you will enjoy browsing when you are not hunting for the meaning of a word.

In my edition, the definitions are not separated into language groups, which means you don't have to know which language the expression comes from. But I would guess that most users of the book would have some idea of the likely section to hunt in. Could be confusing with Italian and Spanish, though!

Recommended for all lovers of language.

In a world where many foreign words and phrases have become increasingly common in both spoken and written English, this book is almost a necessity.

It clarifies numerous words and phrases from Greek, Latin, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish that are used, and just as often, misused, by English speakers and writers.

A few examples:

Under French we find "maison de societe" which literally translates to society house. I had always thought that this must refer to the manor in which some rich or powerful personage resided. No way! It really means a brothel. That's a good one not to misuse.

Here's another from the French language: How many of us know that "bel air" means poise, grace, or good deportment?

Any of us who have ever followed a court case have probably heard the Latin expression "in camera." That literally translates to "in a room," but really means "proceedings conducted in secret."

Now for one from the Italian. We have often heard that someone is a dilettante and most of us probably have some vague sense of what the word means, but how many of us could accurately define dilettante if asked? I'd hazard a guess that the honest answer would be "very few." A dilettante is an amateur, particularly an amateur lover of the arts, but there is a subtler nuance to the word. It also means that this amateur is one who approaches the subject with little or no serious study, and may well pretend to have more knowledge than he actually has.

This is just the surface. LE MOT JUSTE defines and discusses such disparate words and phrases as "Kung Fu," "Pandora's Box," "Nabob." "Kismet, Kimono, and Kibitzer," to name but a few. It also emphasises the nuances that often give the words and phrases their fuller meaning.

It's a good book for any literate person's book shelf.

I bought my first copy of this book ten years ago, and used it until it literally fell apart. This book should be included in any home library, especially in homes with students.

It's fun reading this collection of digressive informal anecdotes about famous (and some obscure) Englishmen. If you enjoyed "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (where some of thc characters appear) you'd like this. As a primary source for information it gets less reliable the further back it goes. Aubrey was born in 1626 so his accounts of Shakespeare and Elizathans are a generation removed, but he had met Harvey and Penn and had been through the Civil War and the rule of Cromwell.

Because its author never completed most of the entries for this biographical work, and never published it, what he did set down about his varied noble and ignoble subjects is uncensored, gossipy, perhaps unsubstantiated, and delightful. If you like browsing in Pepys' diary, or are fascinated by English life in the 17th century, this is the book to leave about for the occasional free moment.

I saw this book in the Spanish translation, a real encyclopedia full of graphics, alkaline paper, and hardback. Amazon sells this one ....
This version in English is austere, printed on newspaper bad quality paper- the ink stains fingers, the pages rip as you turn them.
This ... quality does a disservice to the authors, who have spent their lives compending this fabulous work.

This is a thinker's dictionary, not a guide to road signs and icons. The editors took the trouble to recruit symbol experts from many different professions, ranging from the paranormal to the skeptical academic. The result is a dictionary with entries that have more depth than the usual "quick hits" that other symbolism dictionaries give you. Chevalier is not afraid to give contradictory or contrasting meanings of icons. (He is not a universalist, but a relativist.) He is usually careful to identify the culture in which a particular meaning is given. I keep this in easy reach on my bookshelf, reminding myself, however, that no dictionary on this subject can possibly cover all the meanings a symbol may have. It is worth having around.

I have about a dozen symbol books... most of the classics. This one is the best for interpreting those strange symbols in your dreams, daydreams, etc. It is not the shallow stupid interpretations "you are going on a journey..." stuff, but true archetypical and esoteric interpretations.