More constructively, Mieder has proposed the following definition, 'A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed, and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation'. Hence no definition will enable us to identify positively a sentence as proverbial,' many students of proverbs have attempted to itemize their essential characteristics. An incommunicable quality tells us this sentence is proverbial and that one is not. 1850) observed poetically that a 'proverb is the wit of one, and the wisdom of many.' But giving the word 'proverb' the sort of definition theorists need has proven to be a difficult task, and although scholars often quote Archer Taylor's argument that formulating a scientific 'definition of a proverb is too difficult to repay the undertaking. 9.3 Noteworthy proverb scholars (paremiologists and paremiographers).However, almost every culture has its own unique proverbs. Not all Biblical proverbs, however, were distributed to the same extent: one scholar has gathered evidence to show that cultures in which the Bible is the major spiritual book contain 'between three hundred and five hundred proverbs that stem from the Bible,' whereas another shows that, of the 106 most common and widespread proverbs across Europe, 11 are from the Bible.

In the West, the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs. Some proverbs exist in more than one language because people borrow them from languages and cultures with which they are in contact. Collectively, they form a genre of folklore.

The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial expression is a type of a conventional saying similar to proverbs and transmitted by oral tradition. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverb (from Latin: proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience.

Telugu samethalu with meanings