A truism is an obvious fact.
Perogrullo is a name associated with a figure of oral literature and popular culture , of uncertain origin. It could never be confirmed whether a Perogrullo , Pedrogrullo or Pedro Grullo existed in real life, although his supposed phrases remained in history under the name of perogrulladas .
A truism, also known as a Perogrullo truth , is an expression that, because it states something known to everyone, is extremely simple or even unnecessary . Given this characteristic, qualifying someone's opinion or comment as a Perogrullo truth has a derogatory or mocking connotation.
Examples of self-evident truths
If someone, seeing torrential rain outside a window, comments that “It’s raining, the ground in the garden is going to get wet” , it could be said that he has uttered a truism. A garden is an open-air space, which has no roof: therefore, if it rains, it is obvious that its ground will get wet.
Similarly, a journalist might say about a basketball game: “The team that scored the most points won the game.” This comment is also a truism, since the essence of this sport is to win by scoring more points than the opposing team. On the other hand, if the journalist said that the winning team “scored more three-point shots than its opponent,” this statement would not be a truism , since it does not indicate an indispensable condition for winning.
Other expressions similar to Perogrullo truths are set phrases (grammatical structures already known by everyone that are repeated depending on the occasion) and commonplaces ( expressions that appeal to something repeated ad nauseam to describe a situation).
A truism is similar to a commonplace or a cliché.
History of the concept
The first documents that refer to a character called Petro Grillo date back to the 13th century. He was real, as he appeared as a witness in two deeds made in the Spanish province of Palencia . From then on, the figure of this man evolved and in the 15th century he was frequently spoken of in Cantabria .
The reality or legend of this individual reached such a point that he even became the protagonist in important works by authors of later centuries. Thus, for example, we know that the “prophet Perogrullo” is mentioned not only in “Don Quixote de la Mancha” by Miguel de Cervantes , but also in “La pícara Justina” by F rancisco López de Úbeda .
So widespread was this concept of truism as a synonym for obviousness that even the writer Francisco de Quevedo , in his book “Los Sueños” , included a series of truisms. Among these, one can put as an example the one that says: “ women will give birth if they impregnate and give birth…” .
Another theory about Perogrullo
There are also theories that say that Pero Grullo or Pedro Grillo also has his own French version.
In this case, he is represented by a French marshal who fought under the orders of King François I and who called himself Jacques II de Chabannes . He seems to have been, in addition to being brave and courageous, greatly admired by his soldiers, who decided to honour him with a poem that was in itself naive.