Tatiana
Yevich
English
101
Research
Paper
4.17.01
Rick
Pederson
The Proverbs Are Children Of Experience.
It would appear that nothing could be easier than
writing down the definition of a proverb. Where did a proverb come
from? Where can it be used? Proverbs are widely used in the society
on the regular basis. Some scholars and popular writers have claimed
repeatedly that proverbial language has passed from usage; however it
remains an easily proven fact that proverbs are not “passeґ”
and definitely not dead. This form of language helps to express our
thoughts more exactly and vividly. Proverbs contain wisdom, humor,
and usually fit many purports.
The
Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs defines
a proverb as a sentence that has been developed orally and is still
used by the people of a region. It has usually come about from
experience, and it is a statement that teaches learning within an
experience. The World Book Encyclopedia
gives a different explanation of the word: Proverb is a brief saying
that presents a truth of some bit of useful wisdom. It is usually
based on common sense or practical experience. The effect of a
proverb is to make the wisdom it tells seem to be self-evident. The
same proverb often occurs among several different peoples, True
proverbs are sayings that have been passed from generation to
generation, primarily by word of mouth. They may also have been put
into written form. The Book of Proverbs In the
Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, is the most
notable collection of such sayings. They include:
Hope
deferred makes the heart sick.
A good
name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
A soft
answer turneth away wrath.
Pride
goeth before destriction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
In ancient Israel, children were
educated primarily at home, and proverbs were used to teach them to
become successful and responsible adults. Proverbs have not lost
their well-established popularity, and they continue to be ever
present, even in a modern technological society like that of the
United States of America. This has recently been made abundantly
clear by the thousands of proverbs registered in A Dictionary of
American Proverbs ( New York: Oxford University Press, 1992)
edited by S.A. Kingsbury, K.B. Harder.
Early to bed, and early to rise, make a man
healthy, wealthy and wise.
This is an old proverb
well known in many countries that has not passed from its usage.
Proverbs both old and new, continue to serve us well as concise
statements of apparent truths. In everyday life proverbs name social
situations, that is, they are used to communicate our general human
concerns in traditional language. By employing proverbs in our speech
we wish to strengthen argument, express certain generalizations,
influence or manipulate other people, rationalize our own
shortcomings, question certain behavior patterns, satirize social
ills, and poke fun at ridiculous situations.
Saying
without thinking is shooting without aiming.
There are no limits to the use of
proverbs, and each individual proverb may be used in many ways
depending on its context. There are hundreds of proverbs dealing with
the body, work, love, friendship, death, weather and more. For
example:
Kiss
and be friends.
Two
heads are better than one.
Love
is blind.
One
hand washes other.
A good
beginning makes a good ending.
It is
better to do well then to say well.
These are the examples of proverbs that are based
on friendship and love. Some folklorists are now arguing that most
weather proverbs are not proverbs at all but rather superstitions
couched in proverbial language (Mieder, Wolfgagng 12). Nevertheless,
we would still argue that such texts as:
Lightning
never strikes twice in the same place.
Make
hay while the sun shines.
These are proverbs, especially since they are
usually used in a figurative and not in a literal sense. Medical
proverbs are also widely used by people all over the world. Here are
some proverbs that are very popular:
An apple a day keeps a doctor away.
A
disease known is half cured.
The
doctor is often more to be feared than the disease.
Health
is not valued till sickness comes.
Bitter
pills may have blessed effects.
Proverbs
provide humor in a sarcastic way. Depending on the specific proverb a
person can identify an action and its consequence. For example:
Do not
do all you can; spend not all you have; believe not all you hear;
tell not all you know.
This proverb explains that one should use common
sense as well as sensor ones speech in relationship to other people.
Another example of sarcastic proverbs can be proverb:
A man can work from sun to sun, but a woman’s
work is never done.
Proverbs and their value systems give us some
basic structure, and if their worldview does not fit a particular
situation, they can be quickly changed into revealing and liberating
anti-proverbs. Proverbs are also used as idioms; every language has
its own. An idiom usually consists of a group of words, which is
either meaningless or absurd if the words are understood to mean what
they usually do.
Mostly short proverbs can be used as idioms. For
example:
Die with one’s boots on.
This proverb (idiom) means expire while working,
keep working to the end. I some languages proverbs may occur as
clichйs or old proverbs. Clichйs are trite, worn out
expressions. While they are acceptable in conversation, they should
be avoided in writing. Here are some examples of such event:
Off the wall. Means to be not well reasoned.
Sound as a dollar. Means sensible.
A small sentence as proverb also contains grammar
rules and tones of vocabulary that is why I would claim that proverbs
could help a great deal to learn a foreign language like English and
make the process of learning more interesting. Proverbs contain such
grammar rules as: degrees of comparison of adjectives, gerund
construction, construction “there is”, “there are”,
formation of noun plurals, formation of present, past and future
tenses, antonyms and synonyms, and most of irregular verbs.
Proverbs help to remember gerund construction,
which does not occur in any other language but English.
Saying without thinking is shooting without
aiming.
Seeing is believing.
Constructions “there is”, “there
are” are also do not exist in most of the languages they are
not very hard to remember but it is more interesting to learn it with
the help of the proverbs. For example:
There is no place like home.
There are more ways to the woods then one.
There is no rose without a thorn.
There is no fool like an old fool.
Although many proverbs have been
forgotten there still some that will forever be used. With a new
generation, new technology and new lingo there will be more proverbs
to come and more to be forgotten. People will continue to use old and
new proverbs, therefore they will never die. They are an important
part of learning and life in general.
Tanya Yevich
Professor PetersonEnglish I
17 April
2001
Research
Paper
Some scholars and popular writers have claimed
repeatedly that proverbial language has passed from usage; however,
it remains an easily proven fact that proverbs are not passeґ
and definitely not dead.
Introduction
Definition
of a proverb
History
Who
uses proverbs
Why
are proverbs still popular
Provides
wisdom in short form
Saying
without thinking, shooting without aiming
It is
a hard thing to have a great estate, and not fall in love with it
Provides
humor through words
Wise
men make proverbs and fools repeat them
Not
worth a fly
There’s
no fool like an old fool
Helps
one learn the language
Construction
“there is”, “there are”
Gerund
Degrees
of comparison of adjectives
III.
Conclusion
WORKS CITED
The
Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs. Oxford University Press, Ely
House,
London
1970.
The
World Book Encyclopedia. New York 1999.
A
Dictionary of American Proverbs, New York: Oxford University Press,
1992.
Mieder,
Wolfgang. Proverbs are never out of season. New York: Oxford, 1993.
Search
results for creative Proverbs. Copyright 2000 by Franklin C. Bayer
http://bemorecreative.com/cqproverbs/