“THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX” ORIGIN, NATURE, AND MEANING OF MODERN ANGLO-AMERICAN PROVERBS

Résumé

This article is a much longer version of a keynote address that I delivered at the “Colloque International de Parémiologie” on July 2, 2011, at the University of Paris-Diderot, at Paris, France. While the shorter lecture will appear in due time in the proceedings of this exciting conference under the editorship of Jean-Philippe Zouogbo, the present article will make it available to Proverbium readers throughout the world who will doubtlessly be interested in the inclusion of many more textual examples. The paper is based on the Anglo-American proverbs contained in the new Dictionary of Modern Proverbs (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2012) compiled by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro. It begins with a short history and description of this joint project that took about four years to complete. This is followed by lexicographical matters dealing with the organization of the proverbs and their many variants. Syntactical and structural aspects are discussed, delineating the appearance of certain structural patterns. Proverbs in the form of indicative sentences, imperatives, interrogatives are presented, and the different lengths of these modern proverbs is commented upon as well. There are also considerations relating to counter-proverbs, anti-proverbs, followed by an analysis of proverbs originating from known individuals, motion pictures, songs, advertisements, etc. A discussion of the realia contained in these proverbs is also included, especially regarding animals, somatisms, sports, technology. business, gen-der, sexuality, scatology, etc. It is concluded that modern Anglo-American proverbs are perhaps less metaphorical than traditional proverbs, that they tend to be shorter, and that they do at least in part reflect modern mores and the worldview of the modern age.