folk wisdom

[fohk wiz-duhm]

noun

1. the knowledge or beliefs of ordinary people in a culture that are passed from one generation to the next.

Example Sentences

As the folk wisdom suggests, you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

From Salon

Of course, like most truisms and folk wisdom, that is not entirely true in practice.

From Salon

There is a persistent folk wisdom that older people simply don't need as much sleep — an idea likely borne out of the idea that as our lifestyles ostensibly become less active, our requirements for the reparative benefits of rest diminish.

From Salon

"This folk wisdom is fully applicable to modern relations between our countries."

From Reuters

It’s from “Trauma and Recovery,” by Judith Lewis Herman, and reads, “Folk wisdom is filled with ghosts who refuse to rest in their graves until their stories are told.”

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• adage 
• aphorism 
• axiom 
• dictum 
• epigram 
• maxim 
• witticism