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The Complete Book of Zingers
Volumes in the “Complete Book of” series are an excellent resource for any home library or for pastors and lay leaders to use for sermon preparation, small group, and Sunday school.
The Complete Book of Zingers is a collection of amusing one-sentence sermons, proverbs, adages, illustrations, dictums, and truisms.
The Complete Book of Zingers is a collection of amusing one-sentence sermons, proverbs, adages, illustrations, dictums, and truisms.
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 22, 2012
(In this illustrative moving image I am James MacAvoy and The Complete Book of Zingers is the other guy.)
zinger
1. Something that zings.
2. A very rapidly moving object, especially one that is thrown.
The pitcher threw a real zinger and struck him out.
3. A surprising or unusually pointed or telling remark.
My little niece let fly with the zinger that my sister was pregnant again.
4. An event that when experienced leaves the witness dazed, either physically or metaphorically.
I was still reeling from the zinger of seeing my ex on a date with my best friend.
Okay, I guess technically these are zingers, in the sense that they're one line each, but I think of zingers as like "gotchas" and humorous gotchas at that. The first one in the book:
"Every person should take some time daily to look at the road map of his ambitions."
WHAT????? Fuck you, Complete Zingers! That IS NOT a zinger!
So far, from what I'm looking at this book should be called The Complete Folksy Platitudes.
I hate this book so much.
October 31, 2018
Not quite what I had expected, but still entertaining.
April 24, 2021
Wonderful book of sayings and quotes. Really enjoyed the format being in Alphabetical order.
February 5, 2017
This review was also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.
I think the title is pretty misleading, because the word "zingers" implies that it's a compilation of zippy put-downs. That's why I got it, honestly: I wanted to read a bunch of hilarious insults that I'd never actually use in real life. What this book, though, is actually 5,000 "cute" quotes for pastors to use in their sermons. That might still be fun, if they were really all snappy, but flipping through the book I can see that quite a few of them are not even that catchy.
I haven't read the book cover to cover, of course, since there are literally 5,000+ pithy quotes in it. I did read snippets from a variety of sections, though, so I'm basing my review on that. It's sorted like an encyclopedia, alphabetical by topic (from "Ambition" to "Zeal"). Here are some of the ones I especially liked:
A lot of them, though, are a little too "preachy" for my taste–and some are downright moralizing. Then there's a subset of one-liners, especially in the "Marriage" section, which I just find flat-out wrong. A few of those:
Don't get me wrong, the author included quite a few sweet/funny lines about marriage as well, but there were enough of these rather sexist comments to annoy me. I don't plan on letting any future husband of mine lead the way in our family, nor do I plan on letting him be the sole breadwinner; I think every single line in this book relied on at least one of those two assumptions about the way married relationships work.
Anyway, if you're looking for a book of cute, pithy remarks to throw into your conversations, then maybe this could be something to look into. I can't say I highly recommend it, but then again maybe you'll see something in it what I don't.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the Tyndale Rewards program (click here to check it out, and by using my link to make an account you'll get 25 credits (enough to order a book) just to start and I'll get 10!).
I think the title is pretty misleading, because the word "zingers" implies that it's a compilation of zippy put-downs. That's why I got it, honestly: I wanted to read a bunch of hilarious insults that I'd never actually use in real life. What this book, though, is actually 5,000 "cute" quotes for pastors to use in their sermons. That might still be fun, if they were really all snappy, but flipping through the book I can see that quite a few of them are not even that catchy.
I haven't read the book cover to cover, of course, since there are literally 5,000+ pithy quotes in it. I did read snippets from a variety of sections, though, so I'm basing my review on that. It's sorted like an encyclopedia, alphabetical by topic (from "Ambition" to "Zeal"). Here are some of the ones I especially liked:
Even the turtle would get nowhere if he didn't stick out his neck.
Failure is one thing that can be achieved without effort.
Ideas are like children–your own are wonderful.
A lot of them, though, are a little too "preachy" for my taste–and some are downright moralizing. Then there's a subset of one-liners, especially in the "Marriage" section, which I just find flat-out wrong. A few of those:
A man needs a woman to take care of him so she can make him strong enough for her to lean on.
Marriage is like two people riding a horse–one must ride behind.
The ship of matrimony will move more smoothly if the wife stays away from the sails.
Don't get me wrong, the author included quite a few sweet/funny lines about marriage as well, but there were enough of these rather sexist comments to annoy me. I don't plan on letting any future husband of mine lead the way in our family, nor do I plan on letting him be the sole breadwinner; I think every single line in this book relied on at least one of those two assumptions about the way married relationships work.
Anyway, if you're looking for a book of cute, pithy remarks to throw into your conversations, then maybe this could be something to look into. I can't say I highly recommend it, but then again maybe you'll see something in it what I don't.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through the Tyndale Rewards program (click here to check it out, and by using my link to make an account you'll get 25 credits (enough to order a book) just to start and I'll get 10!).
September 17, 2013
This book is a compendium of supposedly clever one-line sayings, aphorisms and proverbs, collected and indexed by a pastor. He describes them as "one-line sermons" and they're the kinds of sayings you often find in church bulletins or on church reader boards.
I was given this volume as a gift some time ago and only now made time to read it. It's probably not the kind of book that most people would read from beginning to end, but that's what I did (albeit in small doses over the course of several months).
My major problem with "Zingers" is that the quality and continuity of the sayings is so uneven. Some of them are quite good and thought-provoking. Others are silly or wrong-headed, presenting folksy commonplaces as if they were true wisdom. I think someone should have told the dear Reverend Pentz that just become a saying is clever or has good alliteration, doesn't mean it is true or meaningful. (Some of the aphorisms or proverbs in this book are also theologically suspect, but that's another issue entirely.) Within a given section, the quotes can even contradict each other. For example, cataloged under "Education" is the classic aphorism:
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
This is followed a page later by the saying:
The sign "Proceed at your own risk" should be placed on all roads to higher education.
How are we to take two such opposing statements? Certainly there are ways to read these statements in which both could be affirmed, but the author provides no help to get us to such an interpretation. This book is just a list of sayings, with no context provided. So overall, it winds up seeming like a terrible jumble of random, disconnected thoughts.
I was given this volume as a gift some time ago and only now made time to read it. It's probably not the kind of book that most people would read from beginning to end, but that's what I did (albeit in small doses over the course of several months).
My major problem with "Zingers" is that the quality and continuity of the sayings is so uneven. Some of them are quite good and thought-provoking. Others are silly or wrong-headed, presenting folksy commonplaces as if they were true wisdom. I think someone should have told the dear Reverend Pentz that just become a saying is clever or has good alliteration, doesn't mean it is true or meaningful. (Some of the aphorisms or proverbs in this book are also theologically suspect, but that's another issue entirely.) Within a given section, the quotes can even contradict each other. For example, cataloged under "Education" is the classic aphorism:
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
This is followed a page later by the saying:
The sign "Proceed at your own risk" should be placed on all roads to higher education.
How are we to take two such opposing statements? Certainly there are ways to read these statements in which both could be affirmed, but the author provides no help to get us to such an interpretation. This book is just a list of sayings, with no context provided. So overall, it winds up seeming like a terrible jumble of random, disconnected thoughts.
September 6, 2016
“A fellow with the smallest mind is the one who is usually most willing to give someone a piece of it.”
“There may be a wrong way to do the right thing, but never a right way to do a wrong thing.”
― Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers
“There may be a wrong way to do the right thing, but never a right way to do a wrong thing.”
― Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers
September 14, 2007
You can pick this up a million times over and still find something you haven't read before.
July 22, 2012
There are better ways of wasting time than reading this book. Nice to have it in the bathroom to look at as one does other things, and even then there are better books or magazines to read at.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews