adage

plural adages

1. An old saying which has obtained credit by long use.

   According to an old adage, oysters are best in months containing the letter R.

   2 more examples

   He describes the operation thus: "The heavy ram employed to impart the finishing strokes, hoisted up with double purchase and snail's pace to the summit of the Piling Engine, and then falling down like a thunderbolt on the head of the devoted timber, driving it perhaps a single half inch in to the stratum below, is well calculated to put to the test the virtue of patience, while it illustrates the old adage of—slow and sure."

   1952 July, W. R. Watson, “Sankey Viaduct and Embankment”, in Railway Magazine, page 487

   “Their paradigm also allows for an exploration of the liquid courage adage rather than solely the so-called beer goggles phenomenon.”

   2023 August 30, Linda Geddes, quoting Rebecca Monk, “‘Beer goggles’ study finds alcohol does not make people seem better looking”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2023

   Synonyms: proverb, colloquialism, apophthegm, byword, saying, saw, proverb, maxim

2. rhetoricAn old saying which has been overused or considered a cliché; a trite maxim.

   Like the poore Cat i’ th’ Addage.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vii], page 135

   Synonyms: old saw

plural adages

1. abbreviationclippingballetClipping of adagio.