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A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language.
A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. [1] [2] In 1768, John Ray defined a proverbial phrase as:
The Proverbs of Alfred; Proverbs of Hendyng; T. There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip; Time is money (aphorism) To rob Peter to pay Paul;
One of the earliest recorded instances of the proverb is in one of Aesop’s Fables, “The Crow and the Pitcher” from the mid 6th century BCE. Plato's Republic says "our need will be the real creator", [5] which Jowett's 1894 translation rendered loosely as "The true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention."
The proverb scholar Wolfgang Mieder defines the term proverb as follows: A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation. —
Mantra: a religious, mystical, or other spiritual saying that is repeated, for example, in meditation. Maxim: (1) an instructional expression of a general principle or rule of morality or (2) simply a synonym for "aphorism"; they include: Brocard; Gnome; Legal maxim; Motto: a saying used frequently by a person or group to summarize its general ...
for example: Literally, "for the sake of a word". Verbum Dei: Word of God: See religious text. Verbum Domini lucerna pedibus nostris: The word of the Lord [is] a light for our feet: Motto of the University of Groningen: verbum Domini manet in aeternum (VDMA) the word of the Lord endures forever: Motto of the Lutheran Reformation: verb. sap ...
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).