With more than 5000 entries, from Abandon hope all ye who enter here to Led Zeppelin, this book explores the origins and meanings of allusions, words, names and phrases from the worlds of literature, politics and popular culture. The entries include contemporary references as well as information on classical mythology, saints' names, acronyms, collective nouns and pseudonyms.

A guide to references commonly used in speech and writing. Explains more than 900 allusions. Entries include examples from todays leading media. A must for serious readers, language lovers, and ESL students.

This guide explores the meanings of words, names and phrases which are used in literature and popular culture but which come from many sources such as books, films, the Bible, Shakespeare, television, and the theatre. It also contains information on classical mythology, acronyms and pseudonyms.