Has anyone else ever noticed the tendency for rather trite sayings to be taken as containing something more profound? I'm referring to the kind of thing that has some simple wordplay, and involves any admiration for the wordplay transferring to the sentiment behind the saying. Examples are obviously needed, and here are two.
"Live simply, so that others may simply live."
"If you take GOD out of GOOD, you have 'O'"
Both happen to be taken from notice boards outside churches, but I'm not restricting this to religious matters - no doubt there are equally irritating examples of greeting card philosophy in secular areas, and I am not decrying the feelings behind these two. We need a word for this meme/trope/phenomenon.
Aren't they simply "proverbs" (not the book of the Bible)?
Or, "pithy sayings"?
Emmett
But proverbs, whilst often metaphorical, don't use wordplay to insinuate that they contain wisdom. This is something a bit different, I think.
Bios, I hadn't really thought about that before, but I think I know what you mean. Like "Assume makes an ass out of 'you' and 'me,'" right?
And chiasmus is all the rage, although it's often simimlarly contrived.
Exactly right, Martha. Now we just need a good name for them!
Chris