proverb · Words worth keeping
Proverbs are the texts of common life.
Proverbs are the texts of common life.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Proverbs can supply memorable words for recurring situations in everyday life. Calling them texts suggests short passages people use as starting points for reflection.
What the words are saying
The saying treats familiar expressions as something to interpret and apply, rather than merely repeat. A proverb can give a conversation a compact image, a warning or a question that others recognise. The expression also invites attention to how that reading fits the actual event. Proverbs can contradict each other, retain harmful assumptions or be applied carelessly. Their familiarity therefore does not establish universal truth or make them a complete account of a community’s experience.
Everyday example
People discussing a repeated delay use a familiar saying to begin examining what it does and does not explain.
When to use it
Use it to reflect on how a saying shapes an everyday conversation.
What it does not mean
Common wording is not proof of accuracy, fairness or universal cultural agreement.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1304 · Proverbs
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English