Proverbs in various languages are found with a wide variety of grammatical structures.[21] In English, for example, we find the following structures (in addition to others): • 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.
However, people will often quote only a fraction of a proverb to invoke an entire proverb, e.g. "All is fair" instead of "All is fair in love and war", and "A rolling stone" for "A rolling stone gathers no moss."
The grammar of proverbs is not always the typical grammar of the spoken language, often elements are moved around, to achieve rhyme or focus

Use in conversation[edit]

Proverbs are used in conversation by adults more than children, partially because adults have learned more proverbs than children. Also, using proverbs well is a skill that is developed over years. 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. Studying actual proverb use in conversation, however, is difficult since the researcher must wait for proverbs to happen.[23] 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.[24]

Use in literature[edit]

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Created proverb from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings on a bumper sticker.
Many authors have used proverbs in their writings. 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.[25][26] Also, C. S. Lewis created a dozen proverbs in The Horse and His Boy.[27] These books are notable for not only using proverbs as integral to the development of the characters and the story line, but also for creating proverbs.
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.[28]
Proverbs 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). 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 "Heaven helps those who help themselves" from Hercules and the Wagoner.
Proverbs have also been used strategically by poets.[29] Sometimes proverbs (or portions of them or anti-proverbs) are used for titles, such as "A bird in the bush" by 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..."
Some authors have bent and twisted proverbs, creating anti-proverbs, for a vartiety 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”.[30] 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.”[31]
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. 259), with another allusion to the same proverb three pages later. However, the proverb about changing horses in midstream is reliably dated to 1864,[32] so the proverb could not have been known or used by a character from that period.
Some authors have used so many proverbs that there have been entire books written cataloging their proverb usage, such as Charles Dickens,[33] Agatha Christie,[34] and George Bernard Shaw.[35]
On the non-fiction side, proverbs have also been used by authors. 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, "All our eggs in a broken basket: How the Human Terrain System is undermining sustainable military cultural competence."[36] 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.[37]

Interpretations of proverbs[edit]

Interpreting proverbs is often complex. Interpreting proverbs from other cultures is much more difficult than interpreting proverbs in ones own culture. Even within English-speaking cultures, there is difference of opinion on how to interpret the proverb A rolling stone gathers no moss. Some see it as condemning a person that keeps moving, seeing moss as a positive things, such as profit; others see it the proverb as praising people that keep moving and developing, seeing moss as a negative thing, such as negative habits.
In an extreme example, one researcher working in Ghana found that for a single Akan proverb, twelve different interpretations were given.[38] Though this is extreme, proverbs can often have multiple interpretations.
Children will sometimes interpret proverbs in a literal sense, not yet knowing how to understand the conventionalized metaphor. Interpretation of proverbs is also affected by injuries and diseases of the brain, "A hallmark of schizophrenia is impaired proverb interpretation."[39]

Counter proverbs[edit]

There are often proverbs that contradict each other, such as "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost." These have been labeled "counter proverbs" [40] When there are such counter proverbs, each can be used in its own appropriate situation, and neither is intended to be a universal truth.
The concept of "counter proverb" is more about pairs of contradictory proverbs than about the use of proverbs to counter each other in an argument. For example, the following pair are counter proverbs from Ghana "It is the patient person who will milk a barren cow" and "The person who would milk a barren cow must prepare for a kick on the forehead" [41] The two contradict each other, whether they are used in an argument or not (though indeed they were used in an argument). But the same work contains an appendix with many examples of proverbs used in arguing for contrary positions, but proverbs that are not inherently contradictory, (pp. 157–171), such as "One is better off with hope of a cow's return than news of its death" countered by "If you don't know a goat [before its death] you mock at its skin". Though this pair was used in a contradictory way in a conversation, they are not a set of "counter proverbs".
"Counter proverbs" are not the same as a "paradoxical proverb", a proverb that contains a seeming paradox.[42]

Proverbs in drama and film[edit]

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[43] to old French [44] to Shakespeare[45] to today. The use of proverbs in drama and film today is found in languages around the world, such as Yorùbá.[46]
A film that makes rich use of proverbs is Forrest Gump, known for both using and creating proverbs.[47][48] Other studies of the use of proverbs in film include work by Kevin McKenna on the Russian film Aleksandr Nevsky,[49] Haase's study of an adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood,[50] and Elias Dominguez Barajas on the film Viva Zapata!.[51]
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Play poster from 1899.
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.[52]
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, 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.[53]
Movie titles based on proverbs include Murder Will Out (1939 film), Try, Try Again, and The Harder They Fall. The title of an award-winning Turkish 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: Baby with the Bathwater by Christopher Durang, Dog Eat Dog by Mary Gallagher, and The Dog in the Manger by Charles Hale Hoyt. Proverbs have also been used in musical dramas, such as The Full Monty, which has been shown to use proverbs in clever ways.[54]

Proverbs and music[edit]

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"Spilt Milk" album by Jellyfish.
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 other languages, such as the Akan language[55] and the Igede language.[56]
English examples of using proverbs in music 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, 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.,[57][58] The frequent use of proverbs in Country music has led to published studies of proverbs in this genre.,[59][60] The Reggae artist Jahdan Blakkamoore has recorded a piece titled Proverbs Remix. The opera Maldobrìe contains careful use of proverbs.[61] An extreme example of many proverbs used in composing songs include Bruce Springsteen performed a song almost entirely composed of proverbs.[62] The Mighty Diamonds recorded a song called simply "Proverbs".
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"Fleet Foxes" album cover with Netherlandish Proverbs.
The band Fleet Foxes used the proverb painting Netherlandish Proverbs for the cover of their eponymous album Fleet Foxes.
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, Mothers of Invention, Feast or Famine, Of Mice and Men. There have been at least two groups that called themselves "The Proverbs". In addition, many albums have been named with allusions to proverbs, such as Spilt milk (a title used by Jellyfish and also Kristina Train), The more things change by Machine Head, Silk purse by Linda Rondstadt, Another day, another dollar by DJ Scream Roccett, The blind leading the naked by Vicious Femmes, What's good for the goose is good for the gander by 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 Chuck Ragan, Reef the Lost Cauze, Indiginus, and DaVinci. The band Splinter Group released an album titled When in Rome, Eat Lions. The band Downcount used a proverb for the name of their tour, Come and take it.

Sources of proverbs[edit]

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"Who will bell the cat?", comes from the end of a story.
Proverbs come from a variety of sources. Some are, indeed, the result of people pondering and crafting language, such as some by Confucius, Plato, Baltasar Gracián, etc. Others are taken from such diverse sources as poetry,[63] songs, commercials, advertisements, movies, literature, etc.[64] A number of the well known sayings of Jesus, Shakespeare, and others have become proverbs, though they were original at the time of their creation, and many of these sayings were not seen as proverbs when they were first coined. Many proverbs are also based on stories, often the end of a story. For example, the proverb "Who will bell the cat?" is from the end of a story about the mice planning how to be safe from the cat.
Though many proverbs are ancient, they were all newly created at some point by somebody. Sometimes it is easy to detect that a proverb is newly coined by a reference to something recent, such as the Haitian proverb "The fish that is being microwaved doesn't fear the lightning".[65] Also, there is a proverb in the Kafa language of Ethiopia that refers to the forced military conscription of the 1980s, "...the one who hid himself lived to have children."[66] A Mongolian proverb also shows evidence of recent origin, "A beggar who sits on gold; Foam rubber piled on edge."[67] Over 1,400 new English proverbs are said to have been coined in the 20th century.[68] This process of creating proverbs is always ongoing, so that possible new proverbs are being created constantly. Those sayings that are adopted and used by an adequate number of people become proverbs in that society.

Proverbs in advertising[edit]

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Anti-proverb used in advertising Chick-Fil-A
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Anti-proverb used in advertising
Proverbs are frequently used in advertising, often in slightly modified form.[154] 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) attribution http://www.citehr.com/44925-motivational-proverbs.html#ixzz2ws6kiXsQ

Motivational Proverbs.. CiteHR

К английским пословицам побудительной семантики нами относится группа односоставных/двусоставных предложений-пословиц, выражающих значение прямого, прямого с обратным смыслом, косвенного или скрытого побуждения, разнящихся иллокутивной силой, степенью категоричности и оттенками значений.
Семантика побуждения в английских пословицах реализуется: предложением с императивом (43,61%); конструкцией «Let + Infinitive» (1,87%); конструкцией «наречие с модально-оценочным значением «betten) + глагол в повелительном наклонении» (3,74%); конструкцией с модальными словами в активном и пассивном залоге (16,76%); моделью «предваряющее It + Inf. (G.)» (2,80%); моделью «N + перформативный глагол» (0,62%); инфинитивной конструкцией (0,62%); безглагольной побудительной конструкцией (2,18%), безымперативным повествовательным предложением (27,80%).
В рам ках • поело в и ч н ого фонда данные конструкции проявляют заложенное в них традиционной грамматикой формальное своеобразие и обнаруживают дополнительные функционально-семантические особенности.
В качестве формальных особенностей английской пословицы, по сравнению с русской, можно назвать фиксированный порядок слов, запрет двойного отрицания, стремление к двусоставности, которое объясняется недостаточностью парадигм английского глагола, который своей формой не всегда может достаточно ясно указывать на субъект, требуя его наличия, вследствие чего даже безличные английские пословицы строятся при помощи формально безличного подлежащего, которое, растворяя свое содержание в содержании сказуемого, не обозначает никакого реального субъекта, не выделяется и не рассматривается самостоятельно, но все-таки присутствует в предложении.
Выявленные конструкции, являясь полифункциональными, способны реализовывать на письме и в речи несколько значений: общее назидание, оценку, побуждение, которое может быть дифференцировано на несколько типов: прямое (40.99%): Don't judge, a book by its cover. - He, суди о книге no ее обложке. (Кусковская, 7); Learn wisdom by the follies of others. — Говорят на обум, а ты бери на ум! (Кусковская, 28), прямое с обратным смыслом (S.28%): Give a dog a bad name and hang him. - Злые языки острый меч. (Кусковская, 29), Talk to the devil and he is sure to appear. — Про волка речь, а он навстречь. (Буковская, 67); косвенное, иногда имеющее значение запрета на совершение заведомо невыполнимых, безрезультатных действий, которые нет смысла выполнять (37,58%): Love can V be forced. — Насильно мил не будешь. (Кусковская, 33); God helps those who help themselves. — На Бога надейся, а сам не плошай. (Буковская, 95); или скрытое (16,15%): A watched pot never boils. - За которым горшком наблюдают, тот долго вскипает. (Кусковская, 52); Nothing risk, nothing win. - He рискуешь, не добудешь. (Кусковская, 72).
Например, пословица: One cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. - Двум господам не служат. (Буковская, 102) при различных реализациях может являться побуждением: «You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, - he said. You must act for here. The dad should have wished that. (Galsworthy «In Chancery»); может выступать общим назиданием: « You ought to know best», he sad, «but if you want a divorce it's not very wise to go seeing her, is it? One cannot run with (he hare and hunt with the hounds» (Galsworthy, «Saint's progress»); может являться оценкой действий 3-го лица: «Old traditions are the melting pot..,. He shouldn 7 have run with the hare and hunt with the hounds » (Dickens «А tale of two cities»).
Пословица: Don't look a gift horse in a mouth -Дареному коню в pom не заглядывают. (Кусковская, 49) может использоваться с различны- ми иллокутивными целями: в качестве оценки действий третьего лица в прошлом: «Не is absolutely exacting person... and always looking a gift horse in the mouth». ^Galsworthy «In Chancery»); как общее назидание без указания на конкретного адресата и временной направленности: «There shall be little Iigering as possible in your case..,, you may depend upon it», he said, «Much obliged. 1 don 7 want to look a giß horse in the mouth, -which is no a gracious thing to do». (Galsworthy «Saint's progress»); как побуждение, ориентированное на конкретного адресата и временной план будущего: «My dearl I am not going to say anything wrong. I won't give you more annoyance than I can help.... Don't look a gift horse in a mouth» (Dickens «David Copperfield»).
Приведенная ниже таблица отражает типы синтаксических конструкций, реализующих в пословичном фонде английского языка семантику побуждения.
Таблица 2
Типы побудительного значения в английских пословицах
Конструкции Типы побудительного значения Примеры
Прямое а 3 ! w 3 1 Е и — и Косвенное Косвенное со знач. заппета Скрытое
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9 •9 •■С jo 1 J Императив + + - - - К?ер your mouth ?hu( and vow eves open. ~ ¡Аещше рч. а больше (Кусковская. 1381: Lend your money and lose Your friend. - Дружба дружбой, а табачок врозь. (Кусковская. clOSi = Ср.: Не давай в займы -не теряй дружбы.
«Let + Inf'Ye» + + - * * l£i the cobbler stick to his last. - Всяк сверчок waff свой шесток. (Кусковская, 39); Lei sleeping dog fit, - He дразни собаку — не wcvcum. /Буковская, с. 761 = Ср.: Не де~ лай. Не coeeDtuafi,
*Better + imp-ve» - - + - + Better risk a little than lo$e the whole. - Лучше рискнуть, чем все потерять. (Кусковская. 721 = Ср.: Рискуй: Ве(-(?f м*?рг out shoes than sheets. - Ha naiarttxx лежать, так и ломтя не видать. (Кусковская, 43) = Ср.: Не лежи.
• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
*л + Inf-ve (О)» - - + + + It is easv го be wise after the event. - Много храбрых после рати, как залезем на полати. (Кусковская, 18) = Ср.: Будь храбрым, когда того требует случай: It is по use cnini? over spilt milk. - Слезами горю не поможешь. (Ктековская. с. 128) = Ср.: Не расстраивайся из-за случившегося\j£ is never too ¡ate to learn. — Грамоте учиться всегда пригодится. (Кусковская, 8) - Ср.: Учись грамоте в любом возрасте. к Modal Verb + Inf-ve» - - + + - You must creep before you leap. - Научись ходить, а потом уж pppiipfi, (Кусковская, с. 86): You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow 'i ear. — Кривого веретена не выпрямишь. (Кусковская. с. 20) ~ Ср.: fie исправляй. Things past cannot be recalled. — Прошлого не воротишь. (Кусковская. 128). - Н* старайся вернуть то. что уже ушло.
С nep- форм, глаг. - - + - Brave actions never wanted a trumpet. - Доброе дело само себяхвалит. (Кусковская. 142J ш Хорошее не хвали.
Безгл. поб. предя. - * + - + Out of si%ht. out of mind - С глаз долой - из сердиа вон.
(Кусковская, с.160) = Ср.: Н? $стр$чцЦся с человеком -быстрее забудешь; jV