Phrase

Sayings belong to the established linguistic expressions ( phraseologisms ). Mostly they are pictorial expressions. However, the two terms are often used synonymously.

Grammatical Features

The linguist Lutz Röhrich describes proverbial idioms as word group lexemes . They do not stand on their own and have to be supplemented for use within a sentence. At least they lack the subject, such as B. with the phrase " waving the fence post ".

Sayings are not sentences, but predicative phrases. In collections they are always given in the infinitive form , e.g. B. "fishing in troubled waters". When completing the subject, they are bent accordingly, e.g. B. "He fishes in murky waters".

Examples

Phrase	context	meaning
Have a pig	You may have had a pig!	to be lucky
Bring it to an end	Here I draw a line	To end something
have eaten up something	Has he messed up something again?	have done something
Show your colors	It's time to show your colors	show which side you are on
have a sock shot	He's got a sock shot	not quite in your mind
to tie someone up with a bear	A bear was tied to you	to fool someone
in cahoots with someone	You are both in cahoots!	work with someone
have a board in front of your head	You have a board in front of your head	to not understand something

literature

Wilhelm Borchardt: The proverbial idioms in German vernacular explained according to meaning and origin. JA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1925, 6th edition. Complete edit again by Georg Schoppe, first edition 1888.
Wolfgang Hug: Know where Barthel gets the must. Small cultural history of winged words. Wochenschau Verlag (b | d edition), Schwalbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-941264-05-2 .
Rudolf Köster: DUDEN sayings. Origin and meaning. Bibliographisches Institut & FA Brockhaus, Mannheim 2007, ISBN 3-411-70502-7 .
Lutz Röhrich : The dictionary of proverbial sayings. Digital Library, Volume 42 (CD-ROM). Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89853-442-1 .
Walter Schmidkunz : True wisdom - Bavarian-rural proverbs and sayings. Gebr. Richters publishing house, Erfurt 1936, DNB 575455144 .