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Below is an alphabetical list of widely used and repeated proverbial phrases. If known, their origins are noted. A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition.
The meaning of the phrase is based on the common knowledge that a horse usually pulls a cart, despite rare examples of vehicles pushed by horses in 19th-century Germany [5] and early 20th-century France. [6] The earliest recorded use of the proverb was in the early 16th century. [7] It was a figure of speech in the Renaissance. [8]
Used after a term, phrase, or topic that should be looked up elsewhere in the current document, book, etc. For more than one term or phrase, the plural is quae vide (qq.v.). Quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite. Whatever He tells you, that you shall do. More colloquially: "Do whatever He [Jesus] tells you to do."
The original meaning was similar to "the game is afoot", but its modern meaning, like that of the phrase "crossing the Rubicon", denotes passing the point of no return on a momentous decision and entering into a risky endeavor where the outcome is left to chance. alenda lux ubi orta libertas: Let light be nourished where liberty has arisen
[1]: 239 Similar proverbs in English include "Still waters run deep" and "Empty vessels make the most sound." [2] There have been like proverbs in other languages, for example the Talmudic [1]: 241 proverb in the Aramaic language, "if a word be worth one shekel, silence is worth two", which was translated into English in the 17th century.
A clue or a hint is a piece of information bringing someone closer to a conclusion [1] or which points to the right direction towards the solution. [2] It is revealed either because it is discovered by someone who needs it or because it is shared (given) by someone else.
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).
In both of them the meaning does not immediately follow from the phrase. The difference is that an idiomatic phrase involves figurative language in its components, while in a proverbial phrase the figurative meaning is the extension of its literal meaning. Some experts classify proverbs and proverbial phrases as types of idioms. [31]