Editing Proverb (section)

==Use==
===In conversation===
Proverbs are used in conversation by adults more than children, partially because adults have learned more proverbs than children.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Experts |first=Disha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BuFgDwAAQBAJ&dq=Proverbs+are+used+in+conversation+by+adults+more+than+children,+partially+because+adults+have+learned+more+proverbs+than+children&pg=PA53 |title=Olympiad Champs English Class 8 with Past Olympiad Questions 3rd Edition |publisher=Disha Publications |isbn=978-93-88026-46-8 |pages=53 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Experts |first=Disha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmVgDwAAQBAJ&dq=Proverbs+are+used+in+conversation+by+adults+more+than+children,+partially+because+adults+have+learned+more+proverbs+than+children&pg=PA105 |title=Olympiad Champs English Class 7 with Past Olympiad Questions 2nd Edition |publisher=Disha Publications |isbn=978-93-88026-45-1 |pages=105 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brien |first=Terry O' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PEmuoQEACAAJ |title=English Proverbs |date=2011-01-07 |publisher=Rupa |isbn=978-81-291-1808-0 |language=en}}</ref> Also, using proverbs well is a skill that is developed over years.<ref name=":4" /> Additionally, children have not mastered the patterns of metaphorical expression that are invoked in proverb use. Proverbs, because they are indirect, allow a speaker to disagree or give advice in a way that may be less offensive.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ross |first1=Rosetta E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C4tCCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Proverbs,+because+they+are+indirect,+allow+a+speaker+to+disagree+or+give+advice+in+a+way+that+may+be+less+offensive%22&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><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Studying actual proverb use in conversation, however, is difficult since the researcher must wait for proverbs to happen.<ref>Elias Dominguez Baraja. 2010. ''The function of proverbs in discourse''. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.</ref> An Ethiopian researcher, Tadesse Jaleta Jirata, made headway in such research by attending and taking notes at events where he knew proverbs were expected to be part of the conversations.<ref name="Tadesse Jaleta Jirata 2009">Tadesse Jaleta Jirata. 2009. A contextual study of the social functions of Guji-Oromo proverbs. Saabruecken: DVM Verlag.</ref>

===In literature===
[[File:Not all who wander are lost.png|thumb|[http://www.elvenminstrel.com/tolkien/proverbs.htm Created proverb] from [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''Lord of the Rings'' on a bumper sticker.]]

Many authors have used proverbs in their writings, for a very wide variety of literary genres: epics,<ref>Hallo, William W. "Proverbs Quoted in Epic." In Lingering over Words: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Literature in Honor of William L. Moran, pp. 203–217. Brill, 1990.</ref><ref>Yuldybaeva, G.V. 2013. On Research of the Style of the Bashkir Folk Epic "Ural-Batyr" pp. 121–122. ''Ethnological Studies of Shamanism and Other Indigenous Spiritual Beliefs and Practices '', Vol. 15, part 2, pp. 121, 122. Moscow.</ref><ref>Tsaaior, James Tar (2010), "Webbed words: masked meanings: proverbiality and narrative/discursive strategies in D. T. Niane's Sundiata: An Epic of Mali". ''Proverbium'' 27: 319–338.</ref><ref>Adjandeh, Evelyn Aku. 2014. ''A study of Proverbs in "Things Fall Apart" and "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (Sundiata). MPhil thesis, University of Ghana.''.</ref> novels,<ref>Obiechina, Emmanuel. "Narrative proverbs in the African novel." Research in African Literatures 24, no. 4 (1993): 123–140.</ref><ref>Emmanuel Obiechina. Culture, tradition and society in the West African novel. Vol. 14. CUP Archive, 1975.</ref> poems,<ref>Renker, Elizabeth. 2014. "Melville and the Worlds of Civil War Poetry." ''Leviathan'' 16 (2014): 135–52.</ref> short stories.<ref>2017. Peter Unseth and Georgi Kapchits. Hemingway’s Somali proverb confirmed. ''ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews'' 30(4):253–254.</ref>

Probably the most famous user of proverbs in novels is [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] in his ''[[The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' series.<ref name="Michael Stanton 1996">Michael Stanton. 1996. Advice is a dangerous gift. ''Proverbium'' 13: 331–345</ref><ref name="Trokhimenko, Olga 2003">Trokhimenko, Olga. 2003. "If You Sit on the Doorstep Long Enough, You Will Think of Something": The Function of Proverbs in J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit." ''[[Proverbium (journal)]]''20: 367–378.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.elvenminstrel.com/tolkien/proverbs.htm|title=Tolkien's Proverbs in The Lord of the Rings|website=www.elvenminstrel.com}}</ref><ref>Rowe, David. 2016. ''The proverbs of Middle-Earth'', 2nd edition.</ref> [[Herman Melville]] is noted for creating proverbs in ''[[Moby-Dick]]''<ref>Hayes, Kevin. ''Melville’s Folk Roots''. Kent State University Press, 1999, p. 30.</ref> and in his poetry.<ref>Unseth, Peter. 2015. The Source of Melville’s Iroquois Proverb. ''ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews'' 28:3–4, 182–185.</ref><ref>p. 141. Renker, Elizabeth. 2014. Mellville and the Worlds of Civil War Poetry. ''Leviathan'' 16: 135–152.</ref> Also, [[C. S. Lewis]] created a dozen proverbs in ''[[The Horse and His Boy]]'',<ref name="Unseth, Peter 2011">Unseth, Peter. 2011. A culture "full of choice apophthegms and useful maxims": invented proverbs in C.S. Lewis' ''The Horse and His Boy'' ''Proverbium'' 28: 323–338.</ref> and [[Mercedes Lackey]] created dozens for her invented [[Shin'a'in]] and Tale'edras cultures;<ref>Proverbs from Velgarth – http://www.dragonlordsnet.com/danp.htm</ref> Lackey's proverbs are notable in that they are reminiscent to those of Ancient Asia – e.g. "Just because you feel certain an enemy is lurking behind every bush, it doesn't follow that you are wrong" is like to "Before telling secrets on the road, look in the bushes." These authors are notable for not only using proverbs as integral to the development of the characters and the story line, but also for creating proverbs.<ref name="Unseth, Peter 2011"/>

Among medieval literary texts, [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s [[Troilus and Criseyde]] plays a special role because Chaucer's usage seems to challenge the truth value of proverbs by exposing their epistemological unreliability.<ref>Richard Utz, "''Sic et Non'': Zu Funktion und Epistemologie des Sprichwortes bei Geoffrey Chaucer," ''Das Mittelalter: Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung'' 2.2 (1997), 31–43.</ref> [[Rabelais]] used proverbs to write an entire chapter of [[Gargantua]].<ref>p. 903. Taylor, Archer. 1950. Proverbs. ''Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend'', Maria Leach ed. 902–905. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.</ref>

The patterns of using proverbs in literature can change over time. A study of "classical Chinese novels" found proverb use as frequently as one proverb every 3,500 words in the ''[[Water Margin]]'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') and one proverb every 4,000 words in ''Wen Jou-hsiang''. But modern Chinese novels have fewer proverbs by far.<ref>Eberhard, W. 1967. Some notes on the use of proverbs in Chinese novels. ''Proverbium'' no. 9: 201–208.</ref>

[[File:Hercules & Waggoner2.jpg|left|thumb|"Hercules and the Wagoner", illustration for children's book]]
Proverbs (or portions of them) have been the inspiration for titles of books: ''The Bigger they Come'' by [[Erle Stanley Gardner]], and ''Birds of a Feather'' (several books with this title), ''Devil in the Details'' (multiple books with this title). Sometimes a title alludes to a proverb, but does not actually quote much of it, such as ''The Gift Horse's Mouth'' by Robert Campbell. Some books or stories have titles that are twisted proverbs, anti-proverbs, such as ''No use dying over spilled milk'',<ref>Myers, Tamar. 1996. ''No use dying over spelled milk''. New York: Penguin Books.</ref> ''When life gives you lululemons,''<ref>Weisburger, Lauren. 2018. ''When life gives you lululemons.'' Simon & Schuster.</ref> and two books titled ''Blessed are the Cheesemakers''.<ref>Lynch, Sarah-Kate. 2004. ''Blessed are the Cheesemakers''. Grand Central Publications and Tricia Goyr & Cara Putman. 2016. ''Blessed are the Cheesemakers.''</ref> The twisted proverb of last title was also used in the [[Monty Python]] movie [[Life of Brian]], where a person mishears one of Jesus Christ's [[beatitudes]], "I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers.'"

Some books and stories are built around a proverb. Some of Tolkien's books have been analyzed as having "governing proverbs" where "the action of a book turns on or fulfills a proverbial saying."<ref>p. 332. Stanton, Michael. 1996. "Advice is a dangerous gift": (Pseudo)proverbs in ''The Lord of the Rings''. ''Proverbium'' 13:331–346.</ref> Some stories have been written with a proverb overtly as an opening, such as "A stitch in time saves nine" at the beginning of "Kitty's Class Day", one of [[Louisa May Alcott]]'s ''Proverb Stories''. Other times, a proverb appears at the end of a story, summing up a moral to the story, frequently found in [[Aesop's Fables]], such as "[[God helps those who help themselves|Heaven helps those who help themselves]]" from ''Hercules and the Wagoner''.<ref>p. 19. Kent, Graeme. 1991. ''Aesop's Fables.'' Newmarket, UK: Brimax.</ref> In a novel by the Ivorian novelist [[Ahmadou Kourouma]], "proverbs are used to conclude each chapter".<ref>p. 86. Repinecz, Jonathon. 2013. ''Whose Hero? Reinventing Epic in French West African Literature''. University of California, Berkeley: PhD dissertation.</ref>

Proverbs have also been used strategically by poets.<ref>Sobieski, Janet and Wolfgang Mieder. 2005. ''"So many heads, so many wits": An anthology of English proverb poetry.'' (Supplement Series of ''Proverbium'', 18.) Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.</ref> Sometimes proverbs (or portions of them or [[anti-proverb]]s) are used for titles, such as "A bird in the bush" by [[Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet|Lord Kennet]] and his stepson [[Peter Scott]] and "[[The blind leading the blind]]" by Lisa Mueller. Sometimes, multiple proverbs are important parts of poems, such as [[Paul Muldoon]]'s "Symposium", which begins "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it hold its nose to the grindstone and hunt with the hounds. Every dog has a stitch in time..." In Finnish there are proverb poems written hundreds of years ago.<ref>Lauhakangas, Outi. "The Oldest Finnish Proverb Poems in Relation to the [[Matti Kuusi]] International Database od Proverbs." ''Acta Ethnographica Hungarica'' 45.3–4 (2000): 401–420.</ref> The Turkish poet Refiki wrote an entire poem by stringing proverbs together, which has been translated into English poetically yielding such verses as "Be watchful and be wary, / But seldom grant a boon; / The man who calls the piper / Will also call the tune."<ref>A. L. Macfie and F. A. Macfie. 2001. A Proverb Poem by Refiki. ''Asian Folklore Studies'' Vol. 60, Issue 1, pp. 5–19.</ref> [[Eliza Griswold]] also created a poem by stringing proverbs together, Libyan proverbs translated into English.<ref>Griswold, Eliza. 2012, Libyan Proverbs. ''Poetry'' 201.3:372–377.</ref>

Because proverbs are familiar and often pointed, they have been used by a number of hip-hop poets. This has been true not only in the USA, birthplace of hip-hop, but also in Nigeria. Since Nigeria is so multilingual, hip-hop poets there use proverbs from various languages, mixing them in as it fits their need, sometimes translating the original. For example,
<br />"They forget say ogbon ju agbaralo<br />They forget that wisdom is greater than power"<ref>p. 43. Akande, Akinmade Timothy and Adebayo
Mosobalaje. 2014. The use of proverbs in hip-hop music: The example of Yoruba proverbs in 9ices's music. ''Proverbium'' 31:35–58.</ref>

Some authors have bent and twisted proverbs, creating anti-proverbs, for a variety of literary effects. For example, in the [[Harry Potter]] novels, [[J. K. Rowling]] reshapes a standard English proverb into "It's no good crying over spilt potion" and [[Dumbledore]] advises Harry not to "count your owls before they are delivered".<ref>Heather A. Haas. 2011. The Wisdom of Wizards{{snd}}and Muggles and Squibs: Proverb Use in the World of Harry Potter. ''Journal of American Folklore'' 124(492): 38.</ref> In a slightly different use of reshaping proverbs, in the [[Aubrey–Maturin series]] of historical naval novels by [[Patrick O'Brian]], Capt. [[Jack Aubrey]] humorously mangles and mis-splices proverbs, such as "Never count the bear's skin before it is hatched" and "There's a good deal to be said for making hay while the iron is hot."<ref>Jan Harold Brunvand. 2004. "The Early Bird Is Worth Two in the Bush": Captain Jack Aubrey's Fractured Proverbs. ''What Goes Around Comes Around: The Circulation of Proverbs in Contemporary Life'', [[Kimberly J. Lau]], Peter Tokofsky, Stephen D. Winick, (eds.), pp. 152–170. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. [http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=usupress_pubs&sei-redir=1#search=%22What%20Goes%20Around%20Comes%20Around%3A%20Circulation%20Proverbs%20Contemporary%20Life%2C%22 digitalcommons.usu.edu]</ref> Earlier than O'Brian's Aubrey, [[Beatrice Grimshaw]] also used repeated splicings of proverbs in the mouth of an eccentric marquis to create a memorable character in ''The Sorcerer's Stone'',<ref>Unseth, Peter. 2020. Beatrice Grimshaw’s Proverb Splicer and Her Artful Use of Proverbs. ''Proverbium'' 37:341–358.</ref> such as "The proof of the pudding sweeps clean" (p.&nbsp;109) and "A stitch in time is as good as a mile" (p.&nbsp;97).<ref>Grimshaw, Beatrice. 1914. ''The Sorcerer’s Stone.'' Philadelphia: John Winston.</ref>
[[File:DreamHaven May 30 2020 storeboards.jpg|thumb|left|Proverb from Spiderman now in public use]]

Because proverbs are so much a part of the language and culture, authors have sometimes used proverbs in historical fiction effectively, but anachronistically, before the proverb was actually known. For example, the novel ''Ramage and the Rebels'', by [[Dudley Pope]] is set in approximately 1800. Captain Ramage reminds his adversary "You are supposed to know that it is dangerous to change horses in midstream" (p.&nbsp;259), with another allusion to the same proverb three pages later. However, the proverb about changing horses in midstream is reliably dated to 1864, so the proverb could not have been known or used by a character from that period.<ref>p. 49, [[Jennifer Speake]]. 2008. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs'', 5th ed. Oxford University Press.</ref>

Some authors have used so many proverbs that there have been entire books written cataloging their proverb usage, such as [[Charles Dickens]],<ref>George Bryan and Wolfgang Mieder. 1997. ''The Proverbial Charles Dickens''. New York: Peter Lang</ref> [[Agatha Christie]],<ref>George B. Bryan. 1993. ''Black Sheep, Red Herrings, and Blue Murder: The Proverbial Agatha Christie''. Bern: Peter Lang</ref> [[George Bernard Shaw]],<ref>George B. Bryan and Wolfgang Mieder. 1994. ''The Proverbial Bernard Shaw: An Index to Proverbs in the Works of George Bernard Shaw''. Heinemann Educational Books.</ref> [[Miguel de Cervantes]],<ref>Mieder, Wolfgang. 2006. ''Tilting at Windmills History & Meaning of a Proverbial Allusion to Cervantes Don Quixote''. Burlington: University of Vermont. {{ISBN|978-0-9770731-3-9}}</ref><ref>Mieder, Wolfgang. 2017. ''"Stringing proverbs together: The proverbial language in Miguel Cervantes's "Don Quixote"''. (Supplement series to Provebium, 38.) Burlington: University of Vermont.</ref> and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]].<ref>Andreas Nolte, Wolfgang Mieder. 2012. "Zu meiner Hölle will ich den Weg mit guten Sprüchen pflastern". ''Friedrich Nietzsches sprichwörtliche Sprache''. Broschu.</ref>

On the non-fiction side, proverbs have also been used by authors for articles that have no connection to the study of proverbs. Some have been used as the basis for book titles, e.g. ''I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self'' by April Lane Benson. Some proverbs been used as the basis for article titles, though often in altered form: "All our eggs in a broken basket: How the Human Terrain System is undermining sustainable military cultural competence"<ref>Connable, Ben. (2009). All our eggs in a broken basket: How the Human Terrain System is undermining sustainable military cultural competence. Military Review, March–April: 57–64.</ref> and "Should Rolling Stones Worry About Gathering Moss?",<ref>MUNISHWAR NATH GUPTA. 2017. ''Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy'' 83 No. 4: 741–743.</ref> "Between a Rock and a Soft Place",<ref>Denig, Stephen J. Between a Rock and a Soft Place. ''Christian Higher Education'' 11.1 (2012): 44–61.</ref> and the pair "Verbs of a feather flock together"<ref>Lederer, Anne, Henry Gleitman, and Lila Gleitman. "Verbs of a feather flock together: Semantic information in the structure of maternal speech." Beyond names for things: Young children’s acquisition of verbs 277–297 (1995)</ref> and "Verbs of a feather flock together II".<ref>Gleitman, Lila R. "Verbs of a feather flock together II." Amsterdam Studies in the Theorgy and History of Linguistic Science Series 4 (2002): 209–232.</ref> Proverbs have been noted as common in subtitles of articles<ref>p. 154. ''Introduction to Paremiology. A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies'' edited by Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt and Melita Aleksa Varga. Berlin: De Gruyter Open. Online: [http://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/449649 Open Access version].</ref> such as "Discontinued intergenerational transmission of Czech in Texas: 'Hindsight is better than foresight'."<ref>Cope, Lida. 2006. "Discontinued intergenerational transmission of Czech in Texas: 'Hindsight is better than foresight'." ''Southern Journal of Linguistics'' 30(2):1–49.</ref> Also, the reverse is found with a proverb (complete or partial) as the title, then an explanatory subtitle, "To Change or Not to Change Horses: The World War II Elections".<ref>Norpoth, Helmut. 2012. "To Change or Not to Change Horses: The World War II Elections." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' Volume 42, Issue 2: 324–342.</ref> Many authors have cited proverbs as epigrams at the beginning of their articles, e.g. "'If you want to dismantle a hedge, remove one thorn at a time' Somali proverb" in an article on peacemaking in Somalia.<ref>Ismail I. Ahmed and Reginald H. Green. 1999. The heritage of war and state collapse in Somalia and Somaliland. ''Third World Quarterly'' 20.1:113–127.</ref> An article about research among the [[Māori people|Māori]] used a Māori proverb as a title, then began the article with the Māori form of the proverb as an epigram "Set the overgrown bush alight and the new flax shoots will spring up", followed by three paragraphs about how the proverb served as a metaphor for the research and the present context.<ref>Pia Pohatu and Tui Aroha Warmenhoven. 2007. Set the overgrowth alight and the new shoots will spring forth: New directions in community based research. ''AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Scholarship'', Special supplement, 109–127.</ref> A British proverb has even been used as the title for a doctoral dissertation: ''Where there is muck there is brass''.<ref>Abramson, Tony. 2016. ''Where there’s muck there’s brass! Coinage in the Northumbrian landscape and economy, c.575-c.867.'' Leeds University: Doctoral dissertation.</ref> Proverbs have also been used as a framework for an article.<ref>Blitt, Robert C. "Babushka Said Two Things-It Will Either Rain or Snow; It Either Will or Will Not: An Analysis of the Provisions and Human Rights Implications of Russia's New Law on Non-Governmental Organizations as Told through Eleven Russian Proverbs." Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 40 (2008): 1–86.</ref>

===In drama and film===
[[File:Dog in manger poster.jpg|thumb|Play poster from 1899.]]
Similarly to other forms of literature, proverbs have also been used as important units of language in drama and films. This is true from the days of classical Greek works<ref>Russo, Joseph. 1983. The Poetics of the Ancient Greek Proverb. ''Journal of Folklore Research''
Vol. 20, No. 2/3, pp. 121–130</ref> to [[old French]]<ref>Wandelt, Oswin. 1887. Sprichwörter und Sentenzen des altfranzösischen Dramas (1100–1400. Dissertation at Marburg Fr. Sömmering.</ref> to Shakespeare,<ref>Wilson, F.P. 1981. The proverbial wisdom of Shakespeare. In ''The Wisdom of Many: Essays on the Proverb'', ed. by Wolfgang Mieder and Alan Dundes, pp. 174–189. New York: Garland.</ref> to 19th Century Spanish,<ref>Françoise Cazal. 2012. Los refranes en el Auto de Caín y Abel, de Jaime Ferruz: frontera entre texto dramático y enunciado proverbial. ''Paremia'' 21: 21–32.[http://www.paremia.org/wp-content/uploads/02-CAZAL.pdf Electronic form] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140502001353/http://www.paremia.org/wp-content/uploads/02-CAZAL.pdf |date=2014-05-02}}</ref> 19th century Russian,<ref>Grylack, B. R. (1975). The function of proverbs in the dramatic works of [[Alexander Ostrovsky|Aleksandr Nikolaevic Ostrovskij]]. New York University doctoral dissertation.</ref> to today. The use of proverbs in drama and film today is still found in languages around the world, with plenty of examples from Africa,<ref>Adeoti, Gbemisola. "The loudness of the “Unsaid”: Proverbs in selected African drama." ''Legon Journal of the Humanities'' 30, no. 1 (2019): 82–104.</ref> including [[Yoruba language|Yorùbá]]<ref>Akíntúndé Akínyemi. 2007. The use of Yorùbá proverbs in Alin Isola's historical drama ''Madam Tinubu: Terror in Lagos''. ''Proverbium'' 24:17–37.</ref><ref>Yusuf, Habibat Fayoke, and Tayo Lamidi. "Translation Strategies of Proverbs in Selected Yoruba Nollywood Epic Movies." ''Ibadan Journal of Humanistic Studies'' 28, no. 1 (2018): 155–171.</ref> and [[Igbo language|Igbo]]<ref>Ezenwamadu, Nkechi Judith. "The Use of Proverbs i [[Zulu Sofola]]'s King Emene." ''Online Journal of Arts, Management & Social Sciences'' 2, no. 1 (2017).</ref><ref>Ezenwamadu, Nkechi Judith, and Chinyere Theodora Ojiakor. "Proverbs and Postproverbial Stance in Selected Plays of Emeka Nwabueze and Zulu Sofola." ''Matatu'' 51, no. 2 (2020): 432–447.</ref> of Nigeria.

A film that makes rich use of proverbs is ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', known for both using and creating proverbs.<ref>Stephen David Winick. 1998. "The proverb process: Intertextuality and proverbial innovation in popular culture". University of Pennsylvania dissertation.</ref><ref>Stephen David Winick. 2013. Proverb is as proverb does. ''Proverbium''30:377–428.</ref> Other studies of the use of proverbs in film include work by Kevin McKenna on the Russian film ''[[Aleksandr Nevsky]]'',<ref>Kevin McKenna. 2009. "Proverbs and the Folk Tale in the Russian Cinema: The Case of Sergei Eisenstein's Film Classic Aleksandr Nevsky." ''The Proverbial «Pied Piper» A Festschrift Volume of Essays in Honor of Wolfgang Mieder on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday'', ed. by Kevin McKenna, pp. 277–292. New York, Bern: Peter Lang.</ref> Haase's study of an adaptation of [[Little Red Riding Hood]],<ref>Donald Haase. 1990. Is seeing believing? Proverbs and the adaptation of a fairy tale. ''Proverbium'' 7: 89–104.</ref>  Elias Dominguez Barajas on the film ''[[Viva Zapata!]]'',<ref>Elias Dominguez Baraja. 2010. ''The function of proverbs in discourse'', p. 66, 67. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.</ref> and Aboneh Ashagrie on ''[[The Athlete (2009 film)|The Athlete]]'' (a movie in Amharic about [[Abebe Bikila]]).<ref>Aboneh Ashagrie. 2013. The Athlete: a movie about the Ethiopian barefooted Olympic champion. ''Journal of African Cultural Studies'' Vol. 25, No. 1, 119–121.</ref>

Television programs have also been named with reference to proverbs, usually shortened, such [[Birds of a Feather (TV series)|Birds of a Feather]] and [[Diff'rent Strokes]].

In the case of ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', the screenplay by [[Eric Roth]] had more proverbs than the novel by [[Winston Groom]], but for ''[[The Harder They Come]]'', the reverse is true, where the novel derived from the movie by [[Michael Thelwell]] has many more proverbs than the movie.<ref>Coteus, Stephen. 2011. "Trouble never sets like rain": Proverb (in)direction in Michael Thelwell's ''The Harder They Come''. ''Proverbium'' 28:1–30.</ref>

[[Éric Rohmer]], the French film director, directed a series of films, the "Comedies and Proverbs", where each film was based on a proverb: ''[[The Aviator's Wife]]'', ''[[Le Beau mariage|The Perfect Marriage]]'', ''[[Pauline at the Beach]]'', ''[[Full Moon in Paris]]'' (the film's proverb was invented by Rohmer himself: "The one who has two wives loses his soul, the one who has two houses loses his mind."), ''[[The Green Ray]]'', ''[[Boyfriends and Girlfriends]]''.<ref>Pym, John. 1986/1987. Silly Girls. ''Sight and Sound'' 56.1:45–48.</ref>

Movie titles based on proverbs include ''[[Murder Will Out (1939 film)]]'', ''Try, Try Again'', and ''[[The Harder They Fall (1956 film)|The Harder They Fall]]''. A twisted anti-proverb was the title for a [[Three Stooges]] film, ''[[A Bird in the Head]]''. The title of an award-winning Turkish film, [[Three Monkeys (film)|Three Monkeys]], also invokes a proverb, though the title does not fully quote it.

They have also been used as the titles of plays:<ref>Bryan, George. 2002. Proverbial titles of dramas. ''Proverbium'' 19:65–74.</ref> ''[[Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater|Baby with the Bathwater]]'' by [[Christopher Durang]], ''Dog Eat Dog'' by [[Mary Gallagher]], and ''[[The Dog in the Manger]]'' by [[Charles Hale Hoyt]]. The use of proverbs as titles for plays is not, of course, limited to English plays: ''Il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée'' (A door must be open or closed) by [[Paul de Musset]]. Proverbs have also been used in musical dramas, such as ''The Full Monty'', which has been shown to use proverbs in clever ways.<ref>Konstantinova, Anna. 2012. Proverbs in an American musical: A cognitive-discursive study of "The Full Monty". ''Proverbium'' 29:67–93.</ref> In the lyrics for ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'', Gaston plays with three proverbs in sequence, "All roads lead to.../The best things in life are.../All's well that ends with...me."

===In music===

Proverbs are often poetic in and of themselves, making them ideally suited for adapting into songs. Proverbs have been used in music from opera to country to hip-hop. Proverbs have also been used in music in many languages, such as the [[Akan language]]<ref>p. 95 ff. Kwesi Yankah. 1989. ''The Proverb in the Context of Akan Rhetoric.'' Bern: Peter Lang.</ref> the [[Igede language]],<ref>Ode S. Ogede. 1993. Proverb usage in the praise songs of Igede: ''Adiyah'' poet Micah Ichegbeh. ''Proverbium'' 10:237–256.</ref> Spanish,<ref>Raúl Eduardo GONZÁLEZ HERNÁNDEZ. Refranes en las canciones de [[Chava Flores]]. ''Paremia'' 20: 2011, pp. 139–148. [http://www.paremia.org/wp-content/uploads/13.GONZALEZ.pdf Electronic access] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140502033056/http://www.paremia.org/wp-content/uploads/13.GONZALEZ.pdf |date=2014-05-02}}</ref> and Igbo.<ref>{{cite book |pages=115–117 |first1=G. M. T. |last1=Emezue |first2=Nefertiti N. |last2=Emezue |contribution=An Encounter with a Proverb-Hunter and the Beingness of Igbo Proverbs |title=Being and Becoming African as a Permanent Work in Progress: Inspiration from Chinua Achebe's Proverbs |date=2021 |editor1-first=Francis B. |editor1-last=Nyamnjoh |editor2-first=Patrick |editor2-last=Nwosu |editor3-first=Hassan M. |editor3-last=Yosimbom |location=Bamenda, Cameroon |publisher=Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group |isbn=9789956551477}}</ref>

[[File:Gnomovtt-The-Mighty-Diamonds.jpg|thumb|The Mighty Diamonds, singers of "Proverbs"]]
In English the proverb (or rather the beginning of the proverb), [[If the shoe fits (disambiguation)|If the shoe fits]] has been used as a title for three albums and five songs. Other English examples of using proverbs in music<ref>Bryan, Geoerge. 2001. An unfinished List of Anglo-American Proverb Songs. ''Proverbium'' 18:15–56.</ref> include [[Elvis Presley]]'s ''Easy come, easy go'', Harold Robe's ''Never swap horses when you're crossing a stream'', Arthur Gillespie's ''Absence makes the heart grow fonder'', [[Bob Dylan]]'s ''Like a rolling stone'', [[Cher]]'s ''Apples don't fall far from the tree''. [[Lynn Anderson]] made famous a song full of proverbs, ''[[Rose Garden (Lynn Anderson song)|I never promised you a rose garden]]'' (written by [[Joe South]]). In choral music, we find [[Michael Torke]]'s ''Proverbs'' for female voice and ensemble. A number of [[Blues]] musicians have also used proverbs extensively.<ref>Taft, Michael. 1994. Proverbs in the Blues. ''Proverbium'' 12: 227–258.</ref><ref>Prahlad, Sw. Anand. 1996. ''African-American Proverbs in Context''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. See pp. 77ff.</ref> The frequent use of proverbs in Country music has led to published studies of proverbs in this genre.<ref>Steven Folsom. 1993. ''A discography of American Country music hits employing proverb: Covering the years 1986–1992. Proceedings for the 1993.'' Conference of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Association, ed. by Sue Poor, pp. 31–42. Stillwater, Oklahoma: The Association.</ref><ref>Florian Gutman. 2007. "Because you're mine, I walk the line" Sprichwörliches in auswegewählten Liedern von Johnny Cash." ''Sprichwörter sind Goldes Wert'', ed. by Wolfgang Mieder, pp. 177–194. (Supplement series of ''Proverbium'' 25). Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.</ref> The [[Reggae]] artist Jahdan Blakkamoore has recorded a piece titled ''Proverbs Remix''. The opera ''Maldobrìe'' contains careful use of proverbs.<ref>V. Dezeljin. 1997. Funzioni testuali dei proverbi nel testo di ''Maldobrìe''. Linguistica (Ljubljana) 37: 89–97.</ref> An extreme example of many proverbs used in composing songs is a song consisting almost entirely of proverbs performed by [[Bruce Springsteen]], "My best was never good enough".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqJeHXifgLk |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211111/TqJeHXifgLk |archive-date=2021-11-11 |url-status=live|title=Bruce Springsteen – My Best Was Never Good Enough – Live 2005 (opening night) video |date= 20 January 2010 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=2012-09-20}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[The Mighty Diamonds]] recorded a song called simply "Proverbs".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyO2Chjy4LM |title=Mighty Diamonds doing "Proverbs" |website=[[YouTube]]|date=20 March 2017 }}</ref>

The band [[Fleet Foxes]] used the proverb painting [[Netherlandish Proverbs]] for the cover of their album [[Fleet Foxes (album)|Fleet Foxes.]]<ref>Jones, Jonathan. "Why I judge albums by their covers." Wednesday 25 February 2009. ''The Guardian''.</ref>

In addition to proverbs being used in songs themselves, some rock bands have used parts of proverbs as their names, such as the [[Rolling Stones]], [[Bad Company]], [[The Mothers of Invention]], Feast or Famine, and [[Of Mice and Men (band)|Of Mice and Men]]. There have been at least two groups that called themselves "The Proverbs", and there is a hip-hop performer in South Africa known as "Proverb". In addition, many albums have been named with allusions to proverbs, such as ''Spilt milk'' (a title used by [[Jellyfish (band)|Jellyfish]] and also [[Kristina Train]]), ''The more things change'' by [[Machine Head (band)|Machine Head]], ''Silk purse'' by [[Linda Ronstadt]], ''Another day, another dollar'' by DJ Scream Roccett, ''[[The blind leading the naked]]'' by [[Violent Femmes]], ''What's good for the goose is good for the gander'' by [[Bobby Rush (musician)|Bobby Rush]], ''Resistance is Futile'' by [[Steve Coleman]], ''Murder will out'' by [[Fan the Fury]]. The proverb ''Feast or famine'' has been used as an album title by [[Feast or Famine (Chuck Ragan album)|Chuck Ragan]], [[Feast or Famine (Reef the Lost Cauze album)|Reef the Lost Cauze]], Indiginus, and DaVinci. [[Whitehorse (band)|Whitehorse]] mixed two proverbs for the name of their album ''Leave no bridge unburned''. The band Splinter Group released an album titled ''When in Rome, Eat Lions,'' referring to the proverb "[[When in Rome, do as the Romans do]]". The band Downcount used a proverb for the name of their tour, ''[[Come and take it]]''.<ref>p. 10. Singh, Anup K. 2017. ''Dictionary of Proverbs''. Neelkanth Prakashan Publishers.</ref>

===In visual form===
[[File:Fonte com texto (Trancoso).jpg|thumb|left|Proverb on [[azulejo]] tiles in [[Trancoso, Portugal]]]]
[[File:Jacob Jordaens - The Feast of the Bean King - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''The King drinks'' by [[Jacob Jordaens]]]]
[[File:Hornets.nest.JPG|left|thumb|Thai ceramic, illustrating "Don't torch a stump with a hornet nest."]]
[[File:Pieter Brueghel the Elder - The Dutch Proverbs - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[Netherlandish Proverbs]]'', 1559, with peasant scenes illustrating over 100 proverbs]]
[[File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder- Big Fish Eat Little Fish.JPG|thumb|''Big Fish Eat Little Fish'']]

From ancient times, people around the world have recorded proverbs in visual form. This has been done in two ways. First, proverbs have been ''written'' to be displayed, often in a decorative manner, such as on pottery, cross-stitch, murals,<ref>Victor Khachan. 2012. Courtroom proverbial murals in Lebanon: a semiotic reconstruction of justice. ''Social Semiotics'' {{doi|10.1080/10350330.2012.665262}}</ref><ref>Martin Charlot. 2007. ''Local Traffic Only: Proverbs Hawaiian Style.'' Watermark Publishing.</ref> [[Kanga (African garment)|kangas]] (East African women's wraps),<ref>Rose Marie Beck. 2000. Aesthetics of Communication: Texts on Textiles (Leso) from the East African Coast (Swahili). ''Research in African Literatures'' 31.4: 104–124)</ref> [[quilt]]s,<ref>MacDowell, Marsha and Wolfgang Mieder. "'When Life Hands You Scraps, Make a Quilt': Quiltmakers and the Tradition of Proverbial Inscriptions." ''Proverbium'' 27 (2010), 113–172.</ref> a stained glass window,<ref name="Lisa Reilly 2016"/> and graffiti.<ref>Szpila, G. (2012). Regulating the reality? Proverbs in Polish graffiti, Estonia and Poland. ''Creativity and Tradition in Cultural Communication'' 1, 269–284.</ref>

Secondly, proverbs have often been visually depicted in a variety of media, including paintings, etchings, and sculpture. [[Jakob Jordaens]] painted a plaque with a proverb about drunkenness above a drunk man wearing a crown, titled ''The King Drinks''. Probably the most famous examples of depicting proverbs are the different versions of the paintings ''[[Netherlandish Proverbs]]'' by the father and son [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]] and [[Pieter Brueghel the Younger]], the proverbial meanings of these paintings being the subject of a 2004 conference, which led to a published volume of studies (Mieder 2004a). The same father and son also painted versions of [[The Blind Leading the Blind]], a Biblical proverb. These and similar paintings inspired another famous painting depicting some proverbs and also idioms (leading to a series of additional paintings), such as ''[[Proverbidioms]]'' by [[T. E. Breitenbach]]. Another painting inspired by Bruegel's work is by the Chinese artist, Ah To, who created a painting illustrating 81 Cantonese sayings.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://writecantonese8.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/cantonese-proverbs-in-one-picture/ |title=Cantonese Proverbs in One Picture |date=25 February 2014}}</ref>  Corey Barksdale has produced a book of paintings with specific proverbs and pithy quotations.<ref>Corey Barksdale. 2011. ''Art & Inspirational Proverbs''. Lulu.com.{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} The British artist [[Chris Gollon]] has painted a major work entitled ''Big Fish Eat Little Fish'', a title echoing Bruegel's painting of the same name.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.chrisgollon.com/collections/big-fish-eat-little-fish/ |title=Gollon's painting |access-date=2018-12-02 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171220155210/http://www.chrisgollon.com/collections/big-fish-eat-little-fish/ |archive-date=2017-12-20 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Oliver Pelton - Benjamin Franklin - Poor Richard's Almanac Illustrated.jpg|thumb|Illustrations showing proverbs from Ben Franklin]]
[[File:Three wise monkeys figure.JPG|thumb|[[Three wise monkeys]], invoking a proverb, with no text.]]
Sometimes well-known proverbs are pictured on objects, without a text actually quoting the proverb, such as the [[three wise monkeys]] who remind us "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil". When the proverb is well known, viewers are able to recognize the proverb and understand the image appropriately, but if viewers do not recognize the proverb, much of the effect of the image is lost. For example, there is a Japanese painting in the [[Ōmiya Bonsai Village|Bonsai museum]] in [[Saitama, Saitama|Saitama city]] that depicted flowers on a dead tree, but only when the curator learned the ancient (and no longer current) proverb "Flowers on a dead tree" did the curator understand the deeper meaning of the painting.<ref>p. 426. Yoko Mori. 2012. Review of  ''Dictionary of Japanese Illustrated Proverbs''. ''Proverbium'' 29:435–456.</ref> Also in Japan, an image of [[Mount Fuji]], a hawk/falcon, and three egg plants, leads viewers to remember the proverb, "One Mt. Fuji, two falcons, three egg plants", a [[Hatsuyume]] dream predicting a long life.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://jpninfo.com/38217 |title=GaijinPot}}</ref>

A bibliography on proverbs in visual form has been prepared by Mieder and Sobieski (1999). Interpreting visual images of proverbs is subjective, but familiarity with the depicted proverb helps.<ref>pp. 203–213. Richard Honeck. 1997. ''A Proverb in Mind''. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.</ref>

Some artists have used proverbs and anti-proverbs for titles of their paintings, alluding to a proverb rather than picturing it. For example, [[Vivienne LeWitt]] painted a piece titled  "If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?", which shows neither foot nor shoe, but a woman counting her money as she contemplates different options when buying vegetables.<ref>{{cite web|author=database and e-research tool for art and design researchers |url= http://www.daao.org.au/bio/work/if-the-shoe-doesnt-fit-must-we-change-the-foot/ |title=If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot? |work=Design and Art Australia Online |publisher=Daao.org.au |date=2012-10-20 |access-date=2013-08-30}}</ref>

In 2018, 13 sculptures depicting Maltese proverbs were installed in open spaces of downtown [[Valletta]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180203/community/valletta-statue-depicting-proverb-gets-tongues-wagging-online.669628 |title=Article on Maltese proverb sculptures|date=3 February 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2018-02-02/local-news/A-bum-a-bird-and-a-pig-Valletta-2018-unveils-Kif-Jghid-Il-Malti-public-art-installations-6736184371|title=A bum, a bird and a pig: Valletta 2018 unveils 'Kif Jgħid Il-Malti' public art installations – The Malta Independent|website=Independent.com.mt|access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/articles/view/20180202/arts-entertainment/valletta-2018-unveils-public-art-installations.669557 |title=Arts & Entertainment |work=Times of Malta |access-date=3 June 2018}}</ref>

===In cartoons===
Cartoonists, both editorial and pure humorists, have often used proverbs, sometimes primarily building on the text, sometimes primarily on the situation visually, the best cartoons combining both. Not surprisingly, cartoonists often twist proverbs, such as visually depicting a proverb literally or twisting the text as an anti-proverb.<ref>Trokhimenko, Olga V. 1999."Wie ein Elefant im Porzellanlanden": Ursprung, Überlieferung und Gebrauch der Redensart in Deutschen und im Englischen. ''Proverbium'' 16: 351–380</ref> An example with all of these traits is a cartoon showing a waitress delivering two plates with worms on them, telling the customers, "Two early bird specials... here ya go."<ref>The Argyle Sweater, May 1, 2011.</ref>

The traditional [[Three wise monkeys]] were depicted in [[Bizarro]] with different labels. Instead of the negative imperatives, the one with ears covered bore the sign "See and speak evil", the one with eyes covered bore the sign "See and hear evil", etc. The caption at the bottom read "The power of positive thinking."<ref>June 26, 2011.</ref>  Another cartoon showed a customer in a pharmacy telling a pharmacist, "I'll have an ounce of prevention."<ref>p. 126. Wolfgang Mieder. 1993. ''Proverbs are never out of season.'' New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> The comic strip [[The Argyle Sweater]] showed an Egyptian archeologist loading a mummy on the roof of a vehicle, refusing the offer of a rope to tie it on, with the caption "A fool and his mummy are soon parted."<ref>Aug 26, 2012.</ref> The comic [[One Big Happy (comic strip)|One Big Happy]] showed a conversation where one person repeatedly posed a part of various proverb and the other tried to complete each one, resulting in such humorous results as "Don't change horses... unless you can lift those heavy diapers."<ref>July 8, 2012</ref>

[[Editorial cartoon]]s can use proverbs to make their points with extra force as they can invoke the wisdom of society, not just the opinion of the editors.<ref>Weintraut, Edward James. 1999. "Michel und Mauer": Post-Unification Germany as seen through Editorial Cartoons. Die Unterrichtspraxis 32.2: 143–150.</ref> In an example that invoked a proverb only visually, when a US government agency ([[General Services Administration|GSA]]) was caught spending money extravagantly, a cartoon showed a [[The pot calling the kettle black|black pot]] labeled "Congress" telling a black kettle labeled "[[General Services Administration|GSA]]", "Stop wasting the taxpayers' money!"<ref>Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel, Aug 20, 2012.</ref> It may have taken some readers a moment of pondering to understand it, but the impact of the message was the stronger for it.

Cartoons with proverbs are so common that Wolfgang Mieder has published a collected volume of them, many of them [[editorial cartoons]]. For example, a German editorial cartoon linked a current politician to the Nazis, showing him with a bottle of swastika-labeled wine and the caption "[[In vino veritas]]".<ref>p. 389. Wolfgang Mieder. 2013. ''Neues von Sisyphus: Sprichwörtliche Mythen der Anike in moderner Literatur, Medien und Karikaturen.'' Bonn: Praesens.</ref>

One cartoonist very self-consciously drew and wrote cartoons based on proverbs for the University of Vermont student newspaper ''The Water Tower'', under the title "Proverb place".<ref>Brienne Toomey. 2013. Old wisdom reimagined: Proverbial cartoons for university students. ''Proverbium'' 30: 333–346.</ref>
[[File:Good things come to those who dont wait.JPG|thumb|''[[Anti-proverb]]'' used in advertising [[Chick-Fil-A]]]]

===In advertising===
[[File:Glass half full kind of day.JPG|left|thumb|''Anti-proverb'' used in [[advertising]]]]
Proverbs are frequently used in advertising, often in slightly modified form.<ref>Wolfgang Mieder and Barbara Mieder. 1977. Tradition and innovation: Proverbs in advertising. ''Journal of Popular Culture'' 11: 308–319.</ref><ref>Stephen Winick. 2011. Fall into the (intertextual) gap: Proverbs, advertisements, and intertextual strategies. ''Proverbium'' 28:339–380.</ref><ref>Patricia Anne Audber de Baubeta. 2000. Bread, the staff of advertising. ''Paremia'' 9: 103–110. [http://www.paremia.org/wp-content/uploads/P9-12.pdf Online] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150904011854/http://www.paremia.org/wp-content/uploads/P9-12.pdf |date=2015-09-04}}</ref>
Ford once advertised its Thunderbird with, "One drive is worth a thousand words" (Mieder 2004b: 84). This is doubly interesting since the underlying proverb behind this, "One picture is worth a thousand words," was originally introduced into the English proverb repertoire in an ad for televisions (Mieder 2004b: 83).

A few of the many proverbs adapted and used in advertising include:
* "Live by the sauce, dine by the sauce" ([[Buffalo Wild Wings]])
* "At D & D Dogs, you can teach an old dog new tricks" (D & D Dogs)
* "If at first you don't succeed, you're using the wrong equipment" ([[John Deere]])
* "A pfennig saved is a pfennig earned." ([[Volkswagen]])
* "Not only absence makes the heart grow fonder." ([[Godiva Chocolatier]])
* "Where Hogs fly" ([[Grand Prairie AirHogs]]) baseball team
* "Waste not. Read a lot." ([[Half Price Books]])

The [[GEICO]] company has created a series of television ads that are built around proverbs, such as "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush",<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScDoJ2wnug |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130727010215/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScDoJ2wnug |archive-date=2013-07-27 |url-status=dead |title=GEICO Commercial – Bird in Hand |publisher=YouTube |date=2010-08-13 |access-date=2011-11-09}}</ref> and "The pen is mightier than the sword",<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcZd-ql7t1I |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110407012901/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcZd-ql7t1I |archive-date=2011-04-07 |url-status=dead|title=Is the Pen Mightier? – GEICO Commercial |publisher=YouTube |access-date=2011-11-09}}</ref> "Pigs may fly/[[Flying pig|When pigs fly]]",<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-r4Z1K_LDc |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121219230903/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-r4Z1K_LDc&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=2012-12-19 |url-status=dead|title=When pigs fly |publisher=Youtube.com |date=2012-12-18 |access-date=2013-08-30}}</ref> "If a tree falls in the forest...",<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pW2bE61Z9U |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130923224000/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pW2bE61Z9U&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=2013-09-23 |url-status=dead|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> and "Words can never hurt you".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCysb4_-4jU |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140705130451/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCysb4_-4jU |archive-date=2014-07-05 |url-status=dead|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>  Doritos made a commercial based on the proverb, "When pigs fly."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQo0TfuueaY |archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211111/YQo0TfuueaY |archive-date=2021-11-11 |url-status=live |title=When Pigs Fly – Doritos Crash the Super Bowl 2015 Winter Official [sic] |last=Nelson Talbot |date=9 November 2014 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Many advertisements that use proverbs shorten or amend them, such as, "Think outside the shoebox."
Use of proverbs in advertising is not limited to the English language. Seda Başer Çoban has studied the use of proverbs in Turkish advertising.<ref>Seda Başer Çoban. 2010. Sözlü Gelenekten Sözün. Geleneksizliğine: Atasözü Ve Reklam [From Oral Tradition to the Traditionless of Speech: Proverb and Advertisement]. ''Millî Folklor''. pp. 22–27.</ref> Tatira has given a number of examples of proverbs used in advertising in Zimbabwe.<ref>Liveson Tatira. 2001. Proverbs in Zimbabwean advertisements. ''Journal of Folklore Research'' 38.3: 229–241.</ref> 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 time-honored relationship between the company and the individuals". When newer buses were imported, owners of older buses compensated by painting a traditional proverb on the sides of their buses, "Going fast does not assure safe arrival".<ref>p. 233. Liveson Tatira. 2001. Proverbs in Zimbabwean advertisements. ''Journal of Folklore Research'' 38.3: 229–241.</ref>