Abstract
Based on data extracted from language corpora and the Internet, the paper analyzes the changes in the use and semantic structure of the Czech words příslovečný and its equivalents in English (proverbial) and German (sprichwoertlich). The focus is both on their use in their different meanings ('of a proverb', 'typical of proverbs', 'expressed in proverbs'; 'prototypical', 'archetypal'; 'well-known', 'commonly spoken of', 'characteristic') and their different functions (the words being used as introducers of phrasemes, as pointers to fables, anecdotes, stories and prototypal situations, and as euphemisms).