Proverbs - Proverbs

Japanese: ことわざ(諺) - ことわざ

It is one of the typical linguistic expressions that have been passed down orally among the people, and is also called a proverb or a colloquial proverb. Proverbs originally meant "speech skills" and broadly referred to the art of language, and were also considered verbal weapons used to attack people with short phrases. In particular, proverbs, even if they were just a few words, had a great educational effect. In the village society of the past, where averageness was valued, being criticized with a clever proverb and being the only one among many who could not laugh was considered the greatest shame. However, today proverbs are limited to clever analogies that go beyond logic and have a special effect.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

民間において口頭で伝承されてきた定型的な言語表現の一つで，俚諺（りげん），俗諺ともいう。諺は本来〈言（こと）の技（わざ）〉の意味で，広く言語の技芸をさし，短い言葉で人を攻撃する言語の武器ともされていた。とくに諺は寸言であっても大きな教育的効果を有していた。巧みな諺で批評され，多勢のなかで自分一人が笑えぬ立場にたつことは，人並みを重んじた以前の村落社会では最も恥とされたのである。しかし，今日では諺は理屈をこえた巧みなたとえとして特別な効果をもつものに限定されている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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