Proverbs and sayings alive and well

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. The latest update contains 637 units.

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 the "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

Meterc told the STA there is a stereotypical feeling among the people that proverbs are disappearing and only older generations know them. 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. Some proverbs indeed become so obsolete we stop using them, 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 resurged in popularity when rock band Siddharta did a cover in 2000.

Old proverbs as expressions of life as it used to be

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 strongly associated with survival.

"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.

In general, winter proverbs used to be much more popular. However, anti-proverbs are now appearing, such as for example the nonsensical "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."

Adding proverbs to the dictionary is not a simple job, it is based on in-depth research. Meterc analyses language corpora and conducts surveys among speakers of Slovenian.

For him, the dictionary is more than a linguistic project, it reflects the wealth of Slovenian culture, history and modernity. It is a treasure trove suitable for exploration and practical use.