old saw

old saw

An oft-repeated saying, maxim, or proverb; a cliché or hackneyed expression. My dad has a few old saws he never hesitates to share with my kids whenever we come to visit. A: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" B: "That old saw is as untrue as it is annoying!"See also: old, saw

old saw

A proverb or maxim, as in Mom's always repeating the old saw, "Haste makes waste." This term uses saw in the sense of "saying," and old in the sense of "wise" rather than old-fashioned. [Second half of 1400s] See also: old, saw

old saw

A proverb, maxim, or adage. This term comes from a much older meaning for saw, derived from the Old English sagu and meaning just about the same as “saying.” The “old” here is not necessarily derogatory, rather signifying “wise.” Thomas Cooper in his Thesaurus (1565) defined a proverb as “an olde sayed sawe.”See also: old, saw