This is what I see as the thesis of Cooperâs book, an idea he traces across continents and through four centuries, from Mathew Lewisâs Gothic novel The Monk (1796) to James Wanâs âtorture pornâ film Saw (2004).
The definition of proverbial is something well-known or commonly referred to. When someone always uses the same old excuse, over and over again until it becomes old news, this is an example of that person's proverbial excuse. 1  of, or having the nature of, a proverb.  expressed in a proverb.
1 Proverbs - a list of hundreds of the proverbs that give meaning to our language like no other form of expression. 2  American Idioms - Divided by a common language? Not when you understand the phrases tha were born in the USA.  Phrases coined by Shakespeare - He gave us more words and expresions than anyone.