Editing Proverb (section)

{{short description|Short traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth}}
{{redirect|Proverbs|the biblical text|Book of Proverbs|other uses|Proverb (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Adage}}
{{distinguish|pro-verb|Adige|Adyghe (disambiguation)|Ad Age}}
{{Literature}}
A '''proverb''' (from {{langx|la|proverbium}}) or an '''adage''' is a simple, traditional [[saying]] that expresses a perceived truth based on [[common sense]] or experience. Proverbs are often [[metaphorical]] and are an example of [[formulaic speech|formulaic language]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Agrawal |first=Dr K. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zo6tEAAAQBAJ&dq=proverb+(from+Latin:+proverbium)+is+a+simple,+traditional+saying+that+expresses+a+perceived+truth+based+on+common+sense+or+experience&pg=PA12 |title=Tresure Of Book: On Poetries, Ghazals, Proverbs, Riddles, Idioms, Jokes and Quotes |date=2023-02-12 |publisher=Shashwat Publication |isbn=978-93-95362-30-6 |pages=12 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Upadhyay |first=Manish k |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZ-vEAAAQBAJ&dq=proverb+(from+Latin:+proverbium)+is+a+simple,+traditional+saying+that+expresses+a+perceived+truth+based+on+common+sense+or+experience&pg=PA196 |title=General English |date=2023-02-12 |publisher=Rama publication |pages=196 |language=en}}</ref> A proverbial phrase or a proverbial expression is a type of a conventional saying similar to proverbs and transmitted by oral tradition.<ref name=":0" /> The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context.<ref>{{cite journal |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/1497581 |jstor=1497581 |title=Proverbial Phrases from California |last1=Adams |first1=Owen S. |journal=Western Folklore |date=1949 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=95–116 |doi=10.2307/1497581|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>[[Arvo Krikmann]] "the Great Chain Metaphor: An Open Sezame for Proverb Semantics?", ''[[Proverbium (journal)|Proverbium:Yearbook of International Scholarship]], 11 (1994), pp. 117–124.''</ref> Collectively, they form a [[folklore genre|genre of folklore]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dundes |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g195nUPUC6gC&dq=%22proverb%22+%22genre+of+folklore%22&pg=PA30 |title=Interpreting Folklore |date=1980-08-22 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-20240-6 |pages=30 |language=en}}</ref>

Some proverbs exist in more than one language because people borrow them from languages and cultures with which they are in contact.<ref name=":0" /> In the West, the Bible (including, but not limited to the [[Book of Proverbs]]) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of [[Erasmus]]) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs.<ref name=":0" /> Not all Biblical proverbs, however, were distributed to the same extent: one scholar has gathered evidence to show that cultures in which the Bible is the major spiritual book contain "between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible,"<ref>p. 12, Wolfgang Mieder. 1990. ''Not by bread alone: Proverbs of the Bible''. New England Press.</ref> whereas another shows that, of the 106 most common and widespread proverbs across Europe, 11 are from the Bible.<ref>Paczolay, Gyula. 1997. ''European Proverbs in 55 Languages''. Veszpre'm, Hungary.</ref> However, almost every culture has its own unique proverbs.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ross |first1=Rosetta E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4tCCwAAQBAJ&dq=almost+every+culture+has+its+own+unique+proverbs.&pg=PA24 |title=Unraveling and Reweaving Sacred Canon in Africana Womanhood |last2=Amenga-Etego |first2=Rose Mary |date=2015-12-15 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-1822-2 |pages=24 |language=en}}</ref>