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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 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:
A proverb [or proverbial phrase] is usually defined, an instructive sentence, or common and pithy saying, in which more is generally designed than expressed, famous for its peculiarity or elegance, and therefore adopted by the learned as well as the vulgar, by which it is distinguished from counterfeits which want such authority
— John Ray, A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs, 1798[3]
- ^ Adams, Owen S. (17 September 2023). "Proverbial Phrases from California". Western Folklore. 8 (2): 95–116. doi:10.2307/1497581. JSTOR 1497581.
- ^ Arvo Krikmann "the Great Chain Metaphor: An Open Sezame for Proverb Semantics?", Proverbium:Yearbook of International Scholarship, 11 (1994), pp. 117–124.
- ^ Ray, John (1768). A compleat collection of English proverbs. London: W. Otridge, S. Bladon. pp. xi–xii.