The second chapter is a kind of an invitation to discover the proverb phenomenon. Its main goal is to focus on possible definition(s) of a proverb, on the role that it plays in human worldview and in metaphorical structuring of our minds; moreover, in this chapter the readers will have a possibility to see the presence of the proverbs in multiple aspects of life, like art and mass media and, in fact, how they can perfectly fit into every context. This brief research was inspired by a scene from the movie “Amelie” (2001), directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. In this short scene, Gina, colleague of the main character, interrogates Nino, a man with whom Amelie has fallen in love, in order to be sure that Nino is a perfect match for Amelie; she then orders him to finish a set of proverbs. Nino manages to do it correctly, and he asks what was that activity supposed to check. Gina answers that in her family they have a common saying that people who know proverbs cannot be bad …
2.1. Proverb – definition
First of all, it is advisable to establish a clear definition of a proverb, which may be, as it will become clearer later on, little problematic. According to Popularny słownik języka polskiego PWN (2001), “Przysłowie to krótkie zdanie
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As the peculiar language of experience, altogether independent of other purposes than as tried guides of life, proverbs demand notice. It was early found that there were a few principles which controlled society; that the mother of all the arts, the nurse of social feelings, the impeller of individual energies – was Necessity [i.e., the proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention”]. These truths, ascertained by the progress of society, and corroborated by the observation of each succeeding generation, were incorporated into these short maxims as rules of youth which maturity would