Meaning of old saw | Babel Free

Definitions

A cliché, saying, or overused expression, especially a proverb or maxim.

idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“He's full of old saws, but he's not much for original advice.”

“Never believe⟳ the old saw⟳, "If you can remember⟳ the Sixties, you weren't really there". Barry Miles remembers the 60s in vivid detail, down to the dress with "zebra stripes" that George Martin's wife wore at a dinner party given by Paul McCartney and Jane Asher in 1967, and he certainly was there.”

“2017, Andrew Marantz, "Becoming Steve Bannon's Bannon", The New Yorker, Feb 13&20 ed. There’s an old saw⟳ about Washington, D.C., that staffers in their twenties know⟳ more about the minutiae of government than their bosses do.”

“Cooke and Eve Best deliver⟳ a verbal showdown that’s twice as thrilling as the Kingsguard swordfight. Alicent brings out all the old saws: Supporting Rhaenyra has left Rhaenys with two dead children, bastards for grandsons, and a grievously wounded husband. “We do not rule⟳, but we may guide⟳ the men who do,” the queen finishes.”

CEFR level