The 16th edition of this classic reference offers information about thousands of phrases and expressions which are not dealt with in conventional dictionaries. There are entries on people and events from mythology, the Bible, literature and history. Altogether, there are 18,500 main entries and thousands of sub-entries, and this edition contains 700 new entries, including contemporary phrases and expressions, and historic and fictional characters. Major new thematic entries deal with subjects such as hurricane names and mispronounced words. There is also enhanced coverage of present-day idiomatic expressions, including "the full monty", "all dressed up and nowhere to go", "back to the drawing board" and "couch potato".