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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:
Pages in category "English proverbs" The following 31 pages are in this category, out of 31 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. A.
However, unlike the examples given above in English, all of which are anti-proverbs, Tatira's examples are standard proverbs. Where the English proverbs above are meant to make a potential customer smile, in one of the Zimbabwean examples "both the content of the proverb and the fact that it is phrased as a proverb secure the idea of a secure ...
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There is a reference to the many things that can intervene between cup and lip already in an iambic verse by Lycophron (3rd century BC). [citation needed] Erasmus noted in his Adagia that the Greek and Latin versions of the proverb had been recorded by the Carthaginian grammarian Sulpicius Apollinaris (fl. 2nd century C.E.), as quoted in Aulus Gellius's Attic Nights: [1] " πολλὰ ...
When in Rome, do as the Romans do (Medieval Latin: Sī fuerīs Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; sī fuerīs alibī, vīvitō sīcut ibī), often shortened to when in Rome..., is a proverb attributed to Saint Ambrose. [1] [2] The proverb means that it is best to follow the traditions or customs of a place being visited.
A similar proverb in Japanese is 目の寄る所へ玉が寄る, literally "where the eyes go, the eyeballs follow" but with an understood idiomatic meaning of "like draws like", which can be translated into idiomatic English as "birds of a feather flock together", [13] as may the Japanese saying 類は友を呼ぶ, "similar calls a friend."
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).