Un sociologo e alcuni modi di dire. Piccolissima indagine su alcune espressioni popolari provenienti dai media

As a sociologist of communication, the author wonders what function common sayings have. Phrases crystallized in collective imagery and used by many individuals in a certain context, common sayings are support bases of verbal communication, able of creating a comfortable setting for oral (or written) human relations. To exchange common sayings means to share a common culture: not by chance in the past a great number of phrases has come from Latin repertoires, or from Shakespeare's masterpieces, or – in a more distant past – from the Bible, the Gospels, and the Koran. In our time a large number of common sayings come from the media: the text provides some examples of widespread expressions to be commented, coming from different branches of popular media culture (songs, radio and television programs, movies, comics, political communication). Nevertheless, quickness and frantic pace of media production do not seem to guarantee the permanence of common sayings among generations: the expressive cycles are increasingly shorter, and the digital culture is playing a decisive role in differentiating and fragmenting generations.

作为一名传播社会学家，作者旨在探究俗语（common sayings）所具备的功能。俗语是固化于集体意象之中、在特定语境下被大众广泛使用的表达，是言语传播的重要支撑载体，能够为人际口头（或书面）交往营造融洽的氛围。彼此共享俗语的过程，实则是传承共同文化的过程：过往大量俗语源自拉丁语语料库、莎士比亚的经典作品，而在更久远的年代，俗语则多出自《圣经》、福音书与《古兰经》，这绝非偶然。而在当下，大量俗语则源自各类媒体：本数据集文本提供了若干源自大众媒体文化不同领域的热门表达作为示例以供评析，涵盖歌曲、广播电视节目、电影、漫画与政治传播等范畴。然而，媒体内容生产的高速化与狂热节奏，似乎并未保障俗语能够在代际间长久流传：表达的生命周期愈发短暂，而数字文化正成为代际分化与群体割裂的决定性因素。