Proverbs

[Koontz John E]

On Tue, 18 Dec 2001, Catherine Rudin/HU/AC/WSC wrote:
> But actually I can easily imagine people living a long, full, and
> talkative life with no proverbs.  I don't think I use them often in
> English, and then usually as a joke.

I don't think I use them particularly frequently myself, but I certainly
recognize a long list of them and can produce a fair number off the top of
my head if I try to.  And you encounter phrases or allusions (often
humorous) lifted from them even when you don't hear the full proverb,
e.g., "My, you're an early bird today!" or "I was early once, and found
out I didn't like worms."  However, using proverbs as a source of idioms
and basis for allusions is probably no different than making biblical
allusions, or, taking a different tack, using naval idioms - also
widespread in at least American English.  Any domain can be used in this
way.  It's the existence of the particular domain that seems to be
questionable.

I can think of a Siouan (or Northern Plains) literary allusion of this
sort:  the age-grade society name "Little Dogs" referring to 'the little
dogs without names', in contrast to the named older puppies and named
youngest one, in the basis myth of the dog series of societies.
Naturally this would have gone past me completely, except that Lowie, I
think it is, happens to mention it, it having been explained to him.  As
he put it, the full name of the society was 'little dogs without names'.

JEK