SAYINGS & PROVERBS

What are Proverbs and Sayings?

Proverbs and sayings are short statements of wisdom or advice

that are transmitted from generation to generation

and have passed into general use.
 PAREMIOLOGY

The study of proverbs is called

paremiology which has a variety of uses in
the study of such topics as philosophy,
linguistics, and folklore.
 GR A M MAT I C A L
S TR U C TU R ES OF P R OV E R B S
Imperative, negative - Don't beat a dead horse.

Imperative, positive - Look before you leap.

Parallel phrases - Garbage in, garbage out.

Rhetorical question - Is the Pope Catholic?

Declarative sentence - Birds of a feather flock together.
SAMPLE OF PROVERBS
 EXAMPLE OF PROVERBS
Proverbs A A bad excuse is better than none  →  Ask me no questions...

Proverbs B Bad news travels fast →  A burnt child dreads the fire.

Proverbs C A cat has nine lives →  Constant occupation prevents temptation.

Proverbs D Dead men tell no lies → A dry March, a wet April and a cool May ...

Proverbs E Early to bed and early to rise ... → Experience is the father of wisdom.

Proverbs F Facts speak louder than words. → Friendship is love with understanding

Proverbs G Gardens are not made by ...→ A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

Proverbs H Half a loaf is better than none. → Hunger is a good sauce.

Proverbs I An idle brain is the devil's workshop.→ It takes all sorts to make a world

Proverbs J-K Justice delayed is justice denied.→ Knowledge is power.

Proverbs L Laughter is the best medicine.→ A loveless life is a living death.

Proverbs M Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.→ A monkey in silk is ...

Proverbs N Necessity is the mother of invention.→ Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Proverbs O Once bitten, twice shy. → Out of sight, out of mind.

Proverbs P-Q Penny wise, pound foolish.→ Put all your eggs in one basket.

Proverbs R Revenge is sweet. →  A rotten apple spoils the barrel.

Proverbs S Save me from my friends. → Stolen fruit is the sweetest.

Proverbs T Tall oaks grow from little acorns.  →  Two wrongs don't make a right.

Proverbs U-V Union is strength.  →  Virtue is its own reward.

Proverbs W Walls have ears.  →  Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.

Proverbs X-Y-Z You are what you eat.→  Young idler, old beggar.
PROVERBS AND SAYINGS
Every culture has a collection of wise sayings that offer advice about
how to live your life. These sayings are called "proverbs".
Proverbs and every day sayings are still very much active in society
even though not really consciously used and often without even
considering truly its meaning. What stands out with proverbs is the
massive reproduction of gender stereotypes.
PROVERBS IN VISUAL FORM

Thai ceramic,
illustrating "Don't
torch a stump with
a hornet nest."
Netherlandish
Proverbs, 1559,
with peasant
scenes illustrating
over 100 proverbs
Many proverbs from around the world
address matters of ethics and expected of
behavior. Therefore, it is not surprising
that proverbs are often important texts in
religions. The most obvious example is
the Book of Proverbs in the Bible.

PR O VE R B S A N D
RE L I G I O N
PROVERBS IN ADVERTISING
PROVERBS AND PSYCHOLOGY

Though much proverb scholarship is done by literary scholars,

those studying the human mind have used proverbs in a variety of
studies. One of the earliest studies in this field is the Proverbs Test by
Gorham, developed in 1956. A similar test is being prepared in
German. Proverbs have been used to evaluate dementia, study the
cognitive development of children, measure the results of brain
injuries, and study how the mind processes figurative language.
SAYINGS
THANK YOU