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English Language & Usage

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    Strictly speaking, these are all more what I would call "sayings" or "refrains" or "proverbs" than they are "idioms". "A stitch in time saves nine" is the cat's pajamas, and all that rot. :) Commented Aug 27 at 13:42
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    Proverbs etc are usually statements: wise comments / advice; encouragements; hortatives ... at sentence level. Idioms tend to be phrases or subjectless clauses ('tough cookie' / 'bête noir' / 'ship of the desert' /// 'kick the bucket' / 'go for a Burton' ...). Both typically use metaphor (localised comparison with some feature of something largely dissimilar). Commented Aug 27 at 14:25
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    Thank you! I do find it fascinating that the clock proverb has more daily usage, and the inverse proverbs are rarely seen like these ones. Even ChatGPT and Gemini had trouble finding an inverse proverb. Commented Aug 27 at 15:05
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    I find the examples abstruse to say the least. I have never said, heard or read any of them. Commented Aug 28 at 12:33
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    @Greybeard I’ve never hear the cart one, but while the sunspot one is more of an old saying and not necessarily well-known, it – and variations of it – are easily understandable (and not too far off from ‘every rose has its thorn’ or ‘every silver lining has a cloud’). But ‘even Homer [sometimes] nods’ is perfectly standard and normal; not abstruse in the least. Commented Aug 28 at 13:06