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The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs

By Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012. Pp xiv + 294.

Reviewed by
PETER UNSETH, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics

Many collections of English proverbs exist, but as Mieder(??) has observed, these are always out
of date, being largely based on old sources, presenting us many proverbs that have fallen out of
use. But all the while, new proverbs are being coined, though these are not very quickly added to
the canonical proverb collections. This led Archer Taylor to ask “How nearly complete are the
collections of proverbs?” (1969). Taylor 1967: p. 165-167 wonders about the development of
more recent proverbs, while older ones are perpetuated in books.

Whiting published Modern Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings in 1989, drawing largely from
proverbs he encountered in his vast reading, but that was a compilation of proverbs then in use,
not necessarily new proverbs.
This volume fills this gap for us in relation to the 20th century.

Documents what Mieder has long argued, that

Each proverb included in this volume was first documented from 1900 or later (into the 21st
century); I noted one dated as recently as 2010, “If exists, there is porn in it”, is cited as being
first attested in print in 2010 in a Montreal newspaper, but they admit “the proverb began
appearing on Internet posting in 2008.” This practice of dating a proverb by the first published
attestation points to a new and growing dilemma: what should be done with less formal Web
citations. Other examples of first published attestation clearly point to prior existence, as authors
referred to bumper stickers, T-shirts, or phrases that pointed to prior verbal usage, e.g. “the word
in the office is” and “it is an old saying”. The book lists a website where readers can submit
additional proverbs and attestations.

The compilers explain that they have “included only what folklorists call 'true proverbs'” (p. xi),
screening out such not-quite-proverbs as wellerisms, sarcastic questions, and proverbial
comparisons. Also, they did not include a number of sayings that are “not (yet)” adequately
attested. Even with these limits, they still claim over 1,400 new proverbs. Realizing the inexact
nature of defining proverbs, but recalling their goal of “true proverbs”, I will raise questions on
the status of some of the sayings included here. For example, “Dot-com, dot-bomb” highlights
the volatility of some parts of the financial sector; it would be much easier to accept its
classification as a proverb if there were examples of it being used in metaphorical ways outside
of the financial world. Others that seem very narrow but would be easier to accept with such
broader application include “Don't eat yellow snow”, “A rolling loan gathers no loss”, “Don't get
high on your own supply”,and the sexual “If there's grass on the field, play ball”. An example of
a saying from a narrow field gaining broader metaphorical use and moving toward proverb status
is the golf saying “Drive for show, putt for dough”, which in broader usage “refers to the
importance of non-glamorous aspects of a process or enterprise.”

As with any reference book, reading the front matter is not merely helpful, but in this case vital.
It explains the system by which proverbs are alphabetized by a “key word”, the first noun, or if
nouns are lacking, the first finite verb, etc. The same basic system has been used in other proverb
collections, also, but it is not always easy to use. But searching for a particular proverb inevitably
leads to the discovery of other joys on the way.

He was the principal investigator for a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for
study of the applications of Internet resources for research into quotations and
terminology??
The editors discovered and documented many of their 20th century proverbs and attestations by
electronic searches of various databases drawing from newspapers, academic journals,
government documents, etc. They have shown that many sorts of nuggets that can be mined this
way, so that any such proverb studies in the future will have to include this new best practice.

Though the three compilers are all in the USA, by using the Web, they were able to compile
English-language examples from all over the English-speaking world.

Any proverb dictionary has to list each proverb in a standard form, even if it is known and used
in some varied forms. The compilers have dealt with this well, using two different techniques. If
the key word for a proverb being alphabetized led to an alternate form being alphabetized
differently than the standard, then the alternate form was entered with a reference to the key
word of the standard form. For example, “You've either got it or you don't” carries the note, “See
'You either HAVE it or you don't” (emphases as in original). The other technique for citing
variants of proverb forms is the careful uses of parentheses and commas, as in “If frogs had
wings, they wouldn't bump their tails (butts, etc.) on rocks (logs, the ground, etc.). (If frogs had
wings, they could fly.)”

Also, since readers may not always correctly guess what key word was used in alphabetizing a
proverb, they also provided directions to the key word that will lead the reader to the proverb,
e.g. “Nice doesn't win games. See 'NICE doesn't win games'” (emphases as in original).

It is fascinating how many different kinds of sources are listed as first attestations of proverbs:
songs, commercials, a football coach, novels, newspaper fillers, cartoons, testimony before a
government committee, and even a navy chaplain's repeated phrase (“Praise the Lord and pass
the ammunition”).

One small disappointment with this book is the lack of adequate information as to the quantity of
the citations. For example, the citations for “Nothing is as easy as it look” (with variants) nearly
fills half a page with six citations. This convinces any readers that the proverb is well
established. In contrast, “You can't kill shit” is cited (secondarily) from a novel, and the second
citation of it is by the same author who cited it originally. This raises questions as to how widely
this proverb has actually spread and been used. (A quick look at GOOGLE finds it now quoted
numerous times. Which brings us back to the dilemma of how to evaluate Web citations.)
Some of the proverbs appear in two similar, but contradictory forms, what Doyle has called
“counter proverbs”. “A messy (cluttered) desk is a sign of a messy mind (person)” was first
attested in 1974, but “A messy (cluttered) desk is a sign of intelligence (brilliance, genius...
etc.)” was first attested in 1973. And the related “A neat desk is a sign of a sick mind” was also
was first attested in 1973. Similarly, we find “Life is a bowl of cherries” and “Life is not a bowl
of cherries”, both dated from 1931. Nobody can be positive which version actually came first,
but it is interesting that such contradictory forms were created so close to the time of original
creation.

“Anti-proverbs obviously reveal much about the mores and worldview of modern
people” (Mieder purple 2008:116)??

Of course, every reader, as I did, will think of some proverb that the compilers have failed to
include. Before they shout that they have found an overlooked nugget, they should consult the
appendix that lists about 250 “no longer 'modern' proverbs,” as I did. This appendix surprised me
at the sayings that, despite my assumptions of 20th century origins, were older, including, “There
are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”, “Love them and leave them”, “Give a
man a fish, and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” In the
opposite direction, I was startled to find that some proverbs I had assumed to be much older are
first attested in the 20th century, including “A rising tide lifts all boats” and “The squeaking wheel
gets the grease.”

But even then, I found a couple that I think could be added: “Not all who wander are lost; not all
that is gold glistens/glitters,” (??which order??) (invented by Tolkien, each half popularized on T-
shirts and bumper stickers), “Back to the drawing board”

Regarding the link between proverbs and culture, Mieder once observed “proverbs come and go,
that is, antiquated proverbs with messages and images we not longer relate to are dropped from
our proverb repertoire, while new proverbs are created to reflect the mores and values of our
time” (1997:14). I used this collection of modern proverbs to see if it could be used to measure
the rise of new proverbs in relation to changes in “mores and values”.

I tested this by examining “ mores and values” that underwent large changes from about the mid-
1960's related to casual sex. As I went through the book, I noted all the proverbs that reflected
casual attitudes toward sex, labeling them by first year of attestation. I classified 48 proverbs as
reflecting a casual attitude toward sex (e.g. “There's no such thing as too much sex.”). In the first
60 years of the century, there were only 12. In the 1960's when the sexual revolution exploded,
there were 12 in that single decade. Many others followed in the succeeding decades. The book
clearly documents the creation of new proverbs that reflect the changed “mores and values”, the
demise of sexual standards, across much of society. This sort of detailed research on the dating of
proverbs and their reflection of culture would not be possible with any of the usual collections of
English proverbs.
There are many collections of English proverbs on the market, but this one, with its unique focus
of new proverbs, is unique. It will be a standard tool for proverb scholars. Also, English
departments at any college or university will want this available for their faculty and students.

References:

Mieder, Wolfgang. 1997. Proverbs are never out of season: Popular wisdom in the modern age.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, Archer. 1967. The collection and study of proverbs. Proverbium no. 8: 161-177.
Taylor, Archer. 1969. How nearly complete are the collections of proverbs? Proverbium no. 14:
369-371.
Shulman, David. 1994. New words and proverbs: a review of A Dictionary of American
Proverbs, by Wolfgang Mieder, Stewart Kingsbury, and Kelsie Harder. American Speech
69.1:91,92.

How long should my review be?

of the reviews published in the last 2 years, the median length was just over 1900 words and the mean
was about 2230 words.