by·word /-ˌwɝd/
 諺語,格言,笑柄
 By·word n.
 1. A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.
    I knew a wise man that had it for a byword.   --Bacon.
 2. The object of a contemptuous saying.
    Thou makest us a byword among the heathen.   --Ps. xliv. 14
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 byword
      n : a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important
          fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
          [syn: proverb, adage, saw]
 By-word
    Hebrew _millah_ (Job 30:9), a word or speech, and hence object
    of talk; Hebrew _mashal_ (Ps. 44:14), a proverb or parable. When
    it denotes a sharp word of derision, as in Deut. 28:37, 1 Kings
    9:7, 2 Chr. 7:20, the Hebrew _sheninah_ is used. In Jer. 24:9 it
    is rendered "taunt."