Proverbs and sayings alive and well

Some may think of Slovenian proverbs and sayings as outdated, ancient even, but language is as alive as ever and new ones are created all the time. Indeed, a the latest edition of the Slovenian Dictionary of Proverbs and Related Paremiological Terms contains more than a hundred new headwords, some from unlikely sources, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Old favourites such as the Slovenian equivalents for "where there is smoke, there is fire" and "there is no such thing as a stupid question" rub shoulders with "A si ti tudi noter padel," which comes from a 1948 Slovenian film and later became the title of a popular TV variety show, and "lačen si ful drugačen," the Slovenian rendition of the Snickers ad slogan "You're not you when you're hungry".

Some old sayings get a new lease on life. "Počasi se daleč pride," broadly the equivalent of slow and steady wins the race, has gotten an ironic twist with the addition of "hitro pa še dlje," which implies that slow and steady is all fine and dandy, but fast is better.

Every era creates new proverbs

Matej Meterc, a researcher at the Fran Ramovš Institute for the Slovenian Language at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, has edited the dictionary since 2020. He told the Slovenian Press Agency there is a stereotypical feeling among the people that proverbs are disappearing and only older generations know them. His research shows this is far from the truth.

"We tend to perceive the oldest, most traditional expressions connected to nature, agriculture and such as the most characteristic proverbs... but we have to realise that younger generations create new ones that reflect modern experiences and influences," he says.

Such modern sayings often come from literary works, films, songs and even commercials, such as the famous Snickers bar ad.

"The saying has become popular and took on a wider meaning. Even though it was created in a marketing context, it has all the characteristics we attribute to proverbs - a sensible message expressing how someone acts differently when they are hungry, and a distinct form."

Another, less recent addition to the dictionary is "od višine se zvrti," the title of a 1987 song by Martin Krpan which surged in popularity when rock band Siddharta did a cover in 2000.

Old proverbs as expressions of life as it used to be

Even older proverbs that are rarely used or have died out merit research as well, according to Meterc, because they provide insight into how people used to live. Winter proverbs in particular are interesting in that they reflect people's attitudes to a season that used to be harsh.

For example, "Zima bo barala, kaj smo poleti delali" (winter will tell what we did in summer) is no longer in use, but it is testimony to how storing produce in winter used to be much more important than it is now.

At present winter proverbs are not as widely used as they once were, except perhaps when they have an ironic twist. One such recent example is "If there's snow on St Sylvester's, New Year's is not far away," and its negative equivalent "If there's no snow on St Sylvester's, New Year's is not far away."