If you already speak both English and Spanish fluently, then you might enjoy this book. But most of us read bilingual books to increase our language skills. This book often pairs up English and Spanish proverbs that are quite different from one another. "Abril, aguas mil" is translated as "April showers bring May flowers." There is no literal translation of either the Spanish or the English. What is the point of a bilingual book where the "translation" is that creative - if not just plain wrong?

The "Dictionary of 1000 Spanish Proverbs" is an excellent reference book for anyone interested in the use of proverb used throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Considered to be an intelligent, mature way of making a point or sending a message, Spanish proverbs have been used for centuries.

Edited by Peter Mertvago, this book published by the great language staff at Hippocrene Books is listed in alphabetical order according to subject. Each proverb has an English translation that allows readers, especially those learning Spanish, to translate and even use these proverbs in everyday speech.

Some are funny, others wise, while other proverbs are just plain odd, however the "Dictionary of Spanish Proverbs" will keep readers entertained and amused for hours. This book makes an excellent gift or purchase for Spanish language and/or culture majors, or anyone who has a huge interest in Spanish/Latin American culture in general. The book is a compact compact, which is great, especially if you are on the run or traveling. It makes a great read during an average commute to work or on a flight.

i was disappointed to read the english translation of a number of these proverbs. with the amount of italian i know, i felt that some of the phrases didn't capture what was meant nor was a true translation. I felt that they could have at least related some of them to english equivalent proverbs. i have had friends that are fluent in the language and who have lived in italy to read thru the book and they laughed at some of them and told me what the translation is--which in some cases very different from what was printed. overall, i appreciate the effort. it was more important for me to at least have a set of "proverbs" to read in italian. i will make the translation of them on my own. unfortunately, i cannot recommend this book.

This may be the best book of Russian proverbs available in English, but that's not saying much, because, as far as I can tell, it's the Only such book currently in print. This is sad, because many superior such books exist; in particular, I would mention Kuzmin and Shadrin's Russian-English Dictionary of Proverbs and Sayings (Russky Yazyk, Moscow, 1989). For a student of the language, a book of this kind would ideally include, as does Kuzmin and Shadrin, a literal translation of each proverb, as well as any appropriate lexically equivalent or semantically similar corresponding English sayings, and, importantly, at least one example of the use of each saying in its characteristic context(s). Mertvago includes literal translations only in the cases where he deems lexically equivalent sayings not to exist; this can present problems for anyone who wants to understand the many and various colloquial and regional words that show up in these sayings even when the overall sense is given. Furthermore, no examples of usage are included. Finally, the Introduction claims that an English key word index has been provided, but in fact it has not, nor has the promised Russian key word index, although this is less important because the proverbs are themselves indexed alphabetically by Russian key word. Despite these omissions, the publishers found space for ten pages of advertisements (after 171 pages of proverbs averaging six proverbs a page).