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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.
Snippet from 1855 short story "The Judge's Big Shirt," containing the first usage of the phrase. The Oxford English Dictionary places the earliest published non-idiomatic use of the phrase in the New Albany Daily Ledger (New Albany, Indiana, January 30, 1855) in a comedic short story titled "The Judge's Big Shirt."
The concept of old wives' tales has existed for centuries. In 1611, the King James Bible was published with the following translation of a verse: "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness" (1 Timothy 4:7). [1] Old wives' tales originate in the oral tradition of storytelling.
"The pot calling the kettle black" is a proverbial idiom that may be of Spanish origin, of which English versions began to appear in the first half of the 17th century. It means a situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares, and therefore is an example of psychological projection , [ 1 ] or hypocrisy . [ 2 ]
For most of the 21st century, conversation heart sayings had an annual theme. In 2023, for example, they contained pet-themed phrases like “big dog,” “purr fect,” and “beary cute.”
The origin of the squeaky wheel metaphor is unknown, but its current form is attributed to American humorist Josh Billings (the pen name of Henry Wheeler Shaw), who is said to have popularized it in his putative poem "The Kicker" (c. 1870) I hate to be a kicker, I always long for peace, But the wheel that squeaks the loudest,
Sign on the side of the Chicago Varnish Company Building depicting Harry Caray, circa 1998 "Holy cow!" (and other similar terms), an exclamation of surprise used mostly in the United States, Canada, Australia, and England, is a minced oath or euphemism.
A variant of the proverb, "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread" was recorded as a Pembrokeshire saying in 1866. [1] [2] [3] The modern phrasing, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", began usage at the end of the 19th century, with early print examples found as early as 1887.