Talk:the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

RFV discussion: February–April 2023
Not a "proverb", just a cliché (as it says in the etym). Not many ghits. Or is this internet-only? – Jberkel 15:36, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * The etymology is trying to say it derives from a cliché, not that it's an entry for a cliché. It's a common online ("the real X is the friends we made along the way"), which is easy to verify in durable sources too, but I'm not sure what the best format for an entry would be. —Al-Muqanna المقنع (talk) 16:16, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * In that case, wouldn't it be better to list it on Appendix:English_snowclones? – Jberkel 16:52, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Also quite possibly well-attested in greeting cards and wall hangings available in gift shops. It is SoP IMHO. How do we distinguish it by attestation from the kinds of expressions we call proverbs, which can be SoP, or nearly so? DCDuring (talk) 16:20, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Should be moved to Appendix:Snowclones. This is common (as a meme etc.) in the form "the real X is the friends we made along the way" as stated above Ioaxxere (talk) 18:42, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes I think an Appendix:Snowclones entry makes the most sense, following Appendix:Snowclones/X is the new Y etc. —Al-Muqanna المقنع (talk) 23:04, 27 February 2023 (UTC)


 * By what authority or objective criteria can we say it is not a proverb. Or is it just a matter of marshalling subjective opinions in a vote? DCDuring (talk) 18:58, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I would say that a proverb should have some kind of figurative or non-obvious meaning, like . Ioaxxere (talk) 20:35, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * After reading through a few quotes, I don't think this has a single obvious meaning (or maybe has lost it after endless mutations), it certainly can't be summed up as "the journey is often more important than the destination". In some cases it seems to get used as a filler or non sequitur. Or maybe the meme's just dead. – Jberkel 22:51, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * The idiomatic usage seems fairly consistent to me, it's observing that X either isn't worthwhile or doesn't exist independently at all. —Al-Muqanna المقنع (talk) 23:04, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Ok, that makes (a bit) more sense. The friends/journey part is misleading. It's just a long-winded way of dismissing X. – Jberkel 23:44, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * However sappy and lame it may be, it is probably expressing a proverb-like sentiment: "([whatever/however arduous] the journey|whatever the goal/destination) the real treasure is the friends we made along the way." DCDuring (talk) 23:28, 27 February 2023 (UTC)


 * I have heard this as a tongue-in-cheek Internet "meme" thing. e.g. Reddit has the real holocaust, the real Silent Hill ... Equinox ◑ 05:24, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Cartoonist Tom Gauld used the phrase maybe the real gold was the friendships we made along the way in a cartoon for New Scientist magazine, which we might consider to be durably archived as they do still offer a print version. — Soap — 19:43, 3 March 2023 (UTC)
 * RFV failed, moved to appendix. Jberkel 12:58, 11 April 2023 (UTC)