Wolfgang Mieder

Discusses the significance of traditional proverbs and their variations in the modern world.

"'I see, ' said the blind man, as he stumbled over a log." Since ancient times, people have engaged in clever word play, often creating humorous sayings of the same basic construction as this familiar one. In modern times termed a "wellerism" because it is a form of expression reminiscent of Sam Weller and his father, two celebrated characters in Dickens's Pickwick Papers, this major subtype of the proverb has been popular in most European languages...