众所周知，谚语乃是一种语言的精华，寓意深刻，表达隽永。在考研写作中如能适当地引用一些谚语，可以为文章增辉添彩。一些同学在平时的学习中积累了一些谚语，但在写作时不知道该如何将它们恰当地引用到文章中去，本文拟根据近年来《纽约时报》引用谚语的情况，总结出英语中常见的引用谚语的地道表达法，供同学们写作时模仿使用。

　　谚语在英语中叫proverb，引用时经常会在其前面酌情加上old, Chinese, English, Russian之类的形容词；动词一般用go, say, state, has it, put it等，在这些动词后面用逗号或冒号皆可。谚语可加双引号（这时谚语的第一个字母要大写），也可不加双引号（这时第一个字母一般不大写）。引用谚语的表达方式常见的有如下十种：

　　1) A proverb goes / says, ---

　　2) As a / the proverb goes / says, ---

　　A Yiddish proverb goes, “Better to lose with a wise man than win with a fool.”
　　有一句依地语谚语说得好，“宁输智者，不赢傻子。”（August 14, 2000）

　　A proverb says, “Medicine cures the man who is fated not to die.
　　有一句谚语说，“命不该死有药救。”(July 16, 2009)

　　As a Chinese proverb goes, “Don’t climb a tree to look for fish.”
　　正如中国的一句谚语所说，“不要缘木求鱼。”(April 24, 2000)

　　As the old Chinese proverb says, “If you do not enter a tiger’s den, you cannot get her cubs.”
　　正如中国的一句谚语所说，“不入虎穴，焉得虎子。”(November 15, 1993)

　　3) As a / the proverb has it / puts it,

　　4) A proverb has it that ---

　　As a Spanish proverb has it, “Flies don’t enter a closed mouth.”
　　正如一句西班牙谚语所说，“祸从口入。”(July 26, 1992)

　　As a Navajo proverb puts it, “What comes around goes around.”
　　正如纳瓦霍族的一句谚语所说，“一报还一报。”(May 28, 1987)

　　As a local proverb here in Chad puts it: A woman who is pregnant has one foot in the grave.
　　正如乍得当地的一句谚语所说：女人怀宝宝，鬼门关上走一遭。(March 20, 2004)

　　An old proverb has it that “if the thorn doesn’t scratch when it first emerge, it will never scratch.”
　　有一句古老的谚语说，“如果荆棘刚长出时不扎手，那么它就永远不扎手。”(March 26, 2006)

　　5) There is a proverb: ---