There are a wealth of different types of saying which are used in speech or written word. Here is a list of them.
These are mostly literal or figurative language and are in the field of language analysis, in particular stylistics, rhetoric, and semantics. This is partly adapted from Wikipedia’s articles on Literal and figurative language and on Sayings.
Adage or proverb: a widely known or popular aphorism that has gained credibility by long use or tradition.
——
Allusion: a reference to a famous character or event.
——
Aphorism: a general, observational truth; “a pithy expression of wisdom or truth”.
——
Axiom: a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments.
——
Cliché: an unoriginal and overused saying.
——
Epigram: a clever and often poetic written saying that comments on a specific person, idea, or thing; it especially denominates such a saying that is conspicuously put at the beginning of a text.
——
Epithet: a descriptive word or saying already widely associated with a specific person, idea, or thing.
——
Hyperbole: a figure of speech which uses an extravagant or exaggerated statement to express strong feelings.
——
Idiom: a saying that has only a non-literal interpretation; “an expression whose meaning can’t be derived simply by hearing it, such as ‘Kick the bucket.’
——
Mantra: a religious, mystical, or other spiritual saying that is repeated, for example, in meditation.
——
Maxim: an instructional expression of a general principle or rule of morality. Similar to “aphorism”
——
Metaphor: a figure of speech in which two “essentially unlike things” are shown to have a type of resemblance or create a new image.
——
Motto: a saying used frequently by a person or group to summarize its general mission.
——
Onomatopoeia: a word designed to be an imitation of a sound.
——
Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or contradictory terms is used together for emphasis.
——
Paradox: a statement or proposition which is self-contradictory, unreasonable, or illogical.
——
Paradox: a statement or proposition which is self-contradictory, unreasonable, or illogical.
——
Platitude: a cliché that is unsuccessfully presented as though it were meaningful, original, or effective.
——
Pun: an expression intended for a humorous or rhetorical effect by exploiting different meanings of words.
——
Quip: a clever or humorous saying based on an observation.
——
Simile: a comparison of two things, indicated by some connective, usually “like”, “as”, “than”, or a verb such as “resembles” to show how they are similar.
——
Slogan: a motto with the goal of persuading.
——
Witticism: a saying that is clever and usually humorous, and notable for its form or style just as much as, or more than, its meaning.