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Wellerism

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proverb that quotes an animal that is specifically appropriate to that Wellerism, "The chicken says that, it is because of humility that he bows down before entering its coop." Another example of a speaker being specifically chosen to go with the statement in a Wellerism is "The bat says that there
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Wellerisms are similar but not identical to dialogue proverbs, as shown by Kapchits and Unseth. Wellerisms contain the speech of one speaker, but dialogue proverbs contain direct speech from more than one. They are found in a number of languages, including Armenian, French, Georgian,
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of Nigeria (Dundes 1964), with African scholars confirming and adding to his findings (Ojoade 1980, Opata 1988, 1990). Wellerisms are also common in many Ethiopian languages, including Guji Oromo, (where nine of 310 proverbs in a published collection are Wellerisms) and
245:: "The fox, having urinated into the sea, said: 'The depths of the sea are my urine!'" Wellerism proverbs have now been documented across Africa, Europe, western and southern Asia, but in almost no languages of eastern Asia. 278:
In a number of languages, especially in Africa, Wellerisms are formed with animals as the speaker. In some cases, the choice of the animal may not carry much significance. However, in some cases, such as in the
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Tadesse Jaleta Jirata. 2009. Among the Igbo people of Nigeria, Wellerisms are also very common. A contextual study of the social functions of Guji-Oromo proverbs. Saabruecken: DVM Verlag.
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has a wellerism proverb where the chameleon's color adaptability is important, "The chameleon says, ‘When on a tree, assume the colour of its leaf.’” Similarly, there is an
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of Ghana, the choice of the specific animal as speaker is a significant part of some proverbs, "chosen precisely for characteristics that illustrate the proverb...
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Sam Weller's propensity to use the types of constructions now called "Wellerisms" has inspired plays; sometimes, the playwrights have created even more Wellerisms.
177:"Vich I call addin' insult to injury, as the parrot said ven they not only took him from his native land, but made him talk the English langwidge arterwards." 102:
and proverbs by showing that they are wrong in certain situations, often when taken literally. In this sense, Wellerisms that include proverbs are a type of
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George Bryan and Wolfgang Mieder. 1994. "As Sam Weller said, when finding himself on the stage": Wellerisms in dramatization of Charles Dickens'
762:"Bis dat, qui cito dat” – Gegengabe in Paremiology, Folklore, Language, and Literature. Honoring Wolfgang Mieder on His Seventieth Birthday 523: 515:
Unseth, Peter, Daniel Kliemt, Laurel Morgan, Stephen Nelson, Elaine Marie Scherrer. 2017. Wellerism proverbs: Mapping their distribution.
171:"All good feelin', sir – the wery best intentions, as the gen'l'm'n said ven he run away from his wife 'cos she seemed unhappy with him." 660:
Magdalena LipiƄska. 2015. Les proverbes dialoguĂ©s Français Ă  la lumiĂšre de l'analyse comparative avec les proverbes dialoguĂ©s polonais.
180:"Sorry to do anythin' as may cause an interruption to such wery pleasant proceedin's, as the king said wen he dissolved the parliament." 321:"They asked the camel, 'Why is your neck crooked?' The camel laughed roaringly, 'What of me is straight?'" Shor/Khakas (SW Siberia) 174:"There; now we look compact and comfortable, as the father said ven he cut his little boy's head off, to cure him o' squintin'." 215: 65: 47: 851:
The history of Pickwick; an account of its characters, localities, allusions and illustrations, with a bibliography
324:"Let me go, Spider!" "How can I let go of my meat?" "Then get on with it, eat me!" "How can I eat a fly?" — Kasena 32: 699:
p. 176. Roos, Marti, Hans Nugteren, Zinaida Waibel. 2006. Khakas and Shor proverbs and proverbial sayings. In
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p. 19, 20. Unseth, Peter. 2020. African Dialogue Proverbs: An Initial Study of Their Distribution and Forms.
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Proverbs of Africa: Human Nature in Nigerian Oral Tradition." St. Paul, MN: Professors World Peace Academy.
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The vulture says, "I'll shriek and the shepherd will forget," the wolf says, "I'll eat the kid's tail." —
238: 164:"Wery glad to see you, indeed, and hope our acquaintance may be a long 'un, as the gen'l'm'n said to the 269:
The horse, after he had thrown off his rider , "If my burden is always to be thus, I shall become weak."
186:"Oh, quite enough to get, Sir, as the soldier said ven they ordered him three hundred and fifty lashes". 877: 154:"Then the next question is, what the devil do you want with me, as the man said, wen he see the ghost?" 165: 897: 746: 882: 595: 805:
Opata, Damian. 1990. Characterization in animal-derived wellerisms: some selected Igbo examples.
248: 158: 43: 491: 520: 85: 241:(where about 10% of 418 proverbs were found to be quotations). They are also found in ancient 647:
Sakayan, Dora. On Reported and Direct Speech in Proverbs. Dialogue Proverbs in Armenian. In:
327:"I have caught a bear." "Get rid of him." "I can't, he won't let me go." — Russian, Armenian 122: 902: 202: 197: 8: 849: 280: 94: 673:
Hasan-Rokem, G. 1994. Georgian Proverbs of Dialogue and Dialogue of Proverbs in Israel.
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Qaamuuska Casriga Ah: ee Maahmaahda Soomaaliyeed. A Modern Dictionary of Somali Proverbs
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Some researchers concentrate on Wellerisms found in English and European languages, but
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Máakuti t’awá shuultáa: Proverbs finish the problems: Sayings of the Alaaba (Ethiopia)
394: 368: 887: 423: 263: 242: 210: 907: 867: 39: 872: 767: 527: 310: 288: 233: 209:"Au contraire, as the man said in the Bay of Biscay when asked if he had dined" ( 89: 196:"A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged, as the Irishman said." ( 344: 703:, ed by Marcel Erdal and Irina Nevskaya, pp. 157–192. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 861: 814: 331: 259:"Rabbit says, 'Eat everything, drink everything, but don't tell everything'." 297: 292: 103: 183:"Avay vith melincholly, as the little boy said ven his schoolmissus died". 757: 229: 807: 756:
Mac Coinnigh, Marcas, "The Crab's Walk: Wellerism and Fable (AT276) by
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incorporates a speaker attribution that puns on the quoted statement.
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An introduction to Kasena society and culture through their proverbs.
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Gordon, E. I. Sumerian Animal Proverbs and Fables 'Collection Five'.
99: 50:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. 157:"Out vith it, as the father said to his child, when he swallowed a 786:
Proverbs Are Never Out of Season: Popular Wisdom in the Modern Age
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p. 79. Gillian Hansford. 2003. Understanding Chumburung proverbs.
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An introduction to Kasena society culture through their proverbs.
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A contextual study of the social functions of Guji-Oromo proverbs
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Chameleon says quickly quickly is good and slowly slowly is good.
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Some Yoruba Wellerisms, Dialogue Proverbs, and Tongue-Twisters
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p. 433. Peter Unseth. 2011. Review of Tadesse Jaleta Jirata's
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is no difference between standing down and upright", from the
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p. 310. Bartlotti, Leonard and Raj Wali Shah Khattak. 2006.
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Williams, Fionnuala Carson. 2001. Proverbs in wellerisms.
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Opata, Damian. 1988. Personal attribution in Wellerisms.
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Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship
145: 821:(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1931). 106:. Typically a Wellerism consists of three parts: a 690:, expanded edition. Peshawar: Interlit Foundation. 859: 779:American Proverbs: A Study of Texts and Contexts 223: 774:, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994). 791:Ojoade, J. O. 1980. Some Ilaje wellerisms. 788:(New York: Oxford University Press, 1993). 633:Journal of Language, Culture, and Religion 701:Exploring the Eastern Frontiers of Turkic 418: 416: 414: 412: 410: 408: 406: 404: 402: 66:Learn how and when to remove this message 828:(Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, 1962) 826:The Proverb, and An Index to The Proverb 716:Lanham, MD: University Press of America. 581:Lanham, MD: University Press of America. 542:University of Virginia PhD dissertation. 540:The French Creole Dialect of Martinique. 116: 216:The Unpleasantness at the Bellonna Club 860: 399: 366: 362: 360: 618:p. 311-313. Kapchits, Georgi. 2020. 303: 273: 15: 854:. London: Chapman & Hall. 1891. 590:p. 22. Agbemenu, Cephas Yao. 2010. 190: 13: 739: 357: 121:Sam Weller, from a watercolor by ' 14: 919: 839: 566:Journal of West African Languages 20: 770:and Stewart A. Kingsbury, eds. 719: 706: 693: 680: 667: 654: 625: 622:. Katrineholm, Laashin. Sweden. 612: 600: 584: 571: 558: 545: 846:Fitzgerald, Percy Hetherington 688:Rohi Mataluna: Pashto Proverbs 532: 509: 484: 467: 450: 441: 379: 317:of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 1: 800:International Folklore Review 732:. Vienna: New Academic Press. 477:. By Gertrud Schneider-Blum. 350: 224:Examples from other languages 138:A type of Wellerism called a 126: 833:Acta Ethnographica Hungarica 606:Pachocinski, Ryszard. 1996. 592:A collection of Ewe proverbs 577:p. 47. Awedoba, A. K. 2000. 553:Journal of Cuneiform Studies 538:p. 93, Henry E. Funk. 1953. 492:"Proverbs: collection 2 + 6" 367:Lundin, Leigh (2011-11-20). 7: 651:Vol. 16, 1999, pp. 303–324. 373:Wellerisms and Tom Swifties 338: 46:the claims made and adding 10: 924: 98:, make fun of established 84:, named after sayings of 772:Dictionary of Wellerisms 473:p. 461. 2013. Review of 375:. Orlando: SleuthSayers. 781:(New York: Lang, 1989). 635:1, no. 2 (2020): 19–32. 249:Antillean Creole French 232:documented them in the 132: 725:Freidl, Erika. 2015. 120: 745:Dundes, Alan. 1964. 712:A.K. Awedoba. 2000. 428:Charles Dickens Page 203:Anne of Green Gables 198:Lucy Maud Montgomery 893:The Pickwick Papers 281:Chumburung language 148:The Pickwick Papers 95:The Pickwick Papers 784:Mieder, Wolfgang, 777:Mieder, Wolfgang, 526:2017-10-29 at the 133: 31:possibly contains 878:Figures of speech 304:Dialogue proverbs 274:Choice of speaker 78:Type of witticism 76: 75: 68: 33:original research 915: 898:English language 824:Taylor, Archer, 768:Mieder, Wolfgang 733: 723: 717: 710: 704: 697: 691: 684: 678: 671: 665: 658: 652: 645: 636: 629: 623: 616: 610: 604: 598: 588: 582: 575: 569: 562: 556: 549: 543: 536: 530: 513: 507: 506: 504: 502: 488: 482: 471: 465: 454: 448: 445: 439: 438: 436: 434: 420: 397: 383: 377: 376: 364: 211:Dorothy L Sayers 191:English examples 131: 128: 71: 64: 60: 57: 51: 48:inline citations 24: 23: 16: 923: 922: 918: 917: 916: 914: 913: 912: 883:Charles Dickens 858: 857: 842: 742: 740:Further reading 737: 736: 727:Warm Hearts and 724: 720: 711: 707: 698: 694: 685: 681: 672: 668: 659: 655: 646: 639: 630: 626: 617: 613: 605: 601: 589: 585: 576: 572: 563: 559: 550: 546: 537: 533: 528:Wayback Machine 514: 510: 500: 498: 490: 489: 485: 472: 468: 455: 451: 446: 442: 432: 430: 422: 421: 400: 393:11:57–76. 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Retrieved 427: 390: 386: 381: 372: 369:"Wellerness" 307: 300:in Nigeria. 298:Tiv language 284: 277: 262: 247: 227: 214: 201: 147: 137: 134: 104:anti-proverb 93: 81: 80: 62: 53: 30: 903:Paremiology 819:The Proverb 758:Bo Almqvist 481:30:459–461. 464:29:427–434. 230:Alan Dundes 130: 1890 862:Categories 811:7:217–231. 808:Proverbium 677:11:103–116 675:Proverbium 662:Proverbium 596:Web access 479:Proverbium 462:Proverbium 391:Proverbium 351:References 253:Martinique 140:Tom Swifty 86:Sam Weller 82:Wellerisms 40:improve it 92:'s novel 44:verifying 888:Proverbs 802:6:39–41. 793:Folklore 751:Folklore 524:Archived 521:download 339:See also 264:Sumerian 243:Sumerian 908:Eponyms 868:Phrases 764:. 2014. 519:11.13. 517:GIALens 334:of Iran 108:proverb 100:clichĂ©s 38:Please 873:Humour 433:16 May 315:Pashto 311:Kasena 289:Kasena 239:Alaaba 159:farden 112:saying 501:5 May 496:ETCSL 503:2013 435:2021 760:". 753:75. 293:Ewe 123:Kyd 110:or 88:in 42:by 864:: 848:. 817:, 749:. 640:^ 594:. 494:. 460:. 426:. 401:^ 389:. 371:. 359:^ 287:" 255:: 251:, 213:, 200:, 168:." 161:." 127:c. 125:' 505:. 437:. 219:) 206:) 69:) 63:( 58:) 54:( 36:.

Index

original research
improve it
verifying
inline citations
Learn how and when to remove this message
Sam Weller
Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers
clichés
anti-proverb
proverb
saying

Kyd
Tom Swifty
farden
fi' pun' note
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables
Dorothy L Sayers
The Unpleasantness at the Bellonna Club
Alan Dundes
Yoruba language
Alaaba
Sumerian
Antillean Creole French
Martinique
Sumerian
Chumburung language
Kasena

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