anti-proverb

The tradition & historical record

There have been various attempts at classifying different types of anti-proverbs, based on structure and semantics, including by Mieder, Litovkina, and Valdeva. What follows is somewhat synthetic of these. ¹

Association: The similarity to the original sequence is strong enough to identify it, but there is no further connection: The early worm gets picked first. Original phrase: The early bird gets the worm. Change of homonyms: A word which has several meanings is interpreted in a new way: Where there's a will, there's a lawsuit. Original phrase: Where there's a will [motivation], there's a way [to accomplish a task]. Contrast this with the changed homonym phrase, which implies a highly contentious legal document ("will") that determines the distribution of an individual's possessions to other persons and groups upon the individual's death. Combination: Two sequences are combined: One brain washes the other. Original phrases: One hand washes the other. ¹

Mitigation: The meaning seems kept, but is qualified by the supplement: Everything has an end, but a sausage has two. Apology: The original sequence is defended against attacks: German example, translated: Art (Kunst) comes from 'able' (können), not from 'will' (wollen), or we'd better call it wirt (Wulst or Wunst, fantasy word). Conservation: The meaning is similar, with and without the supplement: There is no such thing as a free lunch, but there is always free cheese in a mousetrap. Break of metaphor: Metaphors are interpreted literally: Duty is calling? We call back. Neogenesis: The meaning of the new sentence is completely independent of the original one: An onion a day keeps everybody away. Satire: The meaning of the new sentence displays the original in a gruesome light: Where there is a whip, there is a way. ¹

Bisociation: This is a technical term coined by Arthur Koestler. He says that a funny text is situated in two different semantic levels. In the beginning, the hearer or reader is aware of only one of them. The sudden and unexpected punch line is what makes this humorous. For example: I only want your best – your money. Destruction: This is where the saying is completely altered and has an opposite meaning, such as: Jesus may love you – but will he respect you in the morning? Fictional catastrophe: Catastrophes which are only made up or solved in one's mind might be humorous, as can be seen in the quotation: The light at the end of the tunnel is only muzzle flash. (Alternatives: The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train or The light at the end of the tunnel is the burglars' torch) ¹

Anti-proverbs have been used and recognized for a long time. The Greek musician Stratonicus of Athens used an anti-proverb to mock a cithara-singer who had been nicknamed "Ox". He twisted the standard Greek proverb "The ass hears the lyre", replacing the first word to produce "The Ox hears the lyre." However, the term "anti-proverb" was not coined until 1982 by Wolfgang Mieder. The term became more established with the publication of Twisted Wisdom: Modern Anti-Proverbs by Wolfgang Mieder and Anna T. Litovkina. ¹

They were one of the many experimental styles explored by the French literary movement Oulipo. The term perverb is attributed to Maxine Groffsky. The concept was popularised by Oulipo collaborator Harry Mathews in his Selected Declarations of Dependence (1977). Anti-proverbs have been alternatively named "postproverbials" by Aderemi Raji-Oyelade, (also known by his pen name, Remi Raji). This term has been adopted by some African proverb scholars, seen in a large collection of articles about antiproverbs/postproverbials in the journal Matatu 51,2, edited by Aderemi Raji-Oyelade and Olayinka Oyeleye. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Anti-proverb”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

anti-proverb is transformation of a standard proverb for humorous effect, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²