Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.29162/pv.43.1.1175
Perverbs and detorsio: Comic proverb modification between yesterday and today
Marco Luchi
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Since antiquity, paremias and phraseologisms have always been modified for comic purpose. Latin rhetoricians and scholars used to call this type of manipulation of proverbs detorsio. Closer inspection reveals that the stylistic devices employed by ancient authors are the same as those found in modern perverbs, a term used to collectively describe anti-,pseudo-, quasi- and twisted proverbs. The aim of this article is to show how the modern concept of perverbs and the ancient one of detorsio correspond. To prove this thesis, I will first define the concept of perverb and that of comic detorsio using a few examples. Next, I will show how certain mechanisms present in modern perverbs are also present in ancient examples of comic detorsio. To this end, I will use the comparative method, juxtaposing ancient and modern examples. Special focus will be placed on Petronius’ Satyricon: this 1st-century Latin novel abounds in proverbs and idiomatic expressions that are used for linguistic mimesis and characterization of the characters.
Keywords
detorsio; parody; Greek proverbs; Latin proverbs; ancient literature; perverbs
Hrčak ID:
349769
URI
Publication date:
26.7.2026.
Visits: 0 *