American Proverbs.

Many of the proverbs current in the United States have their origin in classical times, the Bible, and the Middle Ages. As such, they were translated into many languages over the centuries, making up a common stock of proverbial wisdom in large parts of the world. But new proverbs were also coined in the United States with some, of them having only a regional distribution while others belong to the basic set of commonly known American proverbs with a national dissemination. With the important political and cultural role of the United Slates and its version of the English language in the world today, both sets of proverbs, the international and national texts, have now a significant global influence. With English being the lingua franca of the modern age, Anglo-American proverbs are being disseminated throughout the world in English or as loan translations. In fact, English-language proverbs are now playing the role that Latin proverbs did in former times. In addition, the new American proverbs with their worldview of a democratic and future-oriented society also have a considerable influence on the sociopolitical discourse on the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]