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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.
"Once in a blue moon" refers to a rare event. [8]"Don't hold your breath" implies that if you hold your breath while waiting for a particular thing to happen, you will die first.
James G. Blaine finally gained the 1884 Republican nomination for U.S. president on his third attempt: "Another victory like this and our money's gone!". A Pyrrhic victory (/ ˈ p ɪr ɪ k / ⓘ PIRR-ik) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. [1]
The last words attributed to Archimedes (paraphrased from Valerius Maximus' Memorable Doings and Sayings). During the raid of Syracuse by the Romans, Archimedes was busy drawing mathematical circles. He was eventually attacked and killed by a Roman soldier as he was too engrossed in thought to obey the soldier's orders.
The Icarus paradox is a neologism coined by Danny Miller in his 1990 book by the same name. [1] The term refers to the phenomenon of businesses failing abruptly after a period of apparent success, where this failure is brought about by the very elements that led to their initial success.
A defendant is exonerated by the failure of the prosecution to prove its case [4] presumption of innocence: actus me invito factus non est meus actus: the act done by me against my will is not my act: actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea: The act does not make [a person] guilty unless the mind should be guilty.
The client, both hoping for and fearing the possibility of real help, may impose conditions on the therapy that all but guarantee its failure. [16] Conversely, the helper, needing to keep clients in a state of dependency, [17] may be threatened by the prospect of success/closure, and undermine the therapy accordingly. [18]
Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. [1] The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system.