walking encyclopedia

Idioms and Phrases

A very knowledgeable person, as in Ask Rob—he's a walking encyclopedia of military history . A similar expression, a walking dictionary , was used by George Chapman in his poem “Tears of Peace” (c. 1600).

Example Sentences

Ms Zarin described the AI as a “walking encyclopedia” of her own thoughts and advice.

From BBC

They’re both walking encyclopedias of the genre, able to reel off titles of films, popular and obscure, with the alacrity of true aficionados.

From Los Angeles Times

Ruehle, a walking encyclopedia of music, loves to sneak in odd, obscure tunes that fit game situations.

From Los Angeles Times

In a business fixated on hits, Mr. Stein was a walking encyclopedia of 20th-century pop, and more.

From New York Times

There, he would school me on how everything used to be in the streets back in the day, and I would happily listen, as I quickly learned that Burns was a walking encyclopedia.

From Salon

Related Words

• smart aleck
• wise guy