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dictionary.com
Aphorisms
Clichés
Colloquialisms
Euphemisms
Idioms
Metaphors

What do you call a "saying" such as egg on your face? I get mixed up between "idioms", "colloquialisms", "slang", "jargon", "euphemisms", "clichés", "metaphors", "catch phrases", "aphorisms", and "similes".

A "saying" like have egg on your face is an "idiom". This old-fashioned idiom means 'to be embarrassed or seem stupid because of something that you said or did'. Here are some guidelines for the word classes and figures of speech you mention:

• "allusion": instance of indirect or passing reference, e.g., Scrooge, Peyton Place, Dudley Do-Right.
• "aphorism": comprehensive maxim or statement of principle, e.g., To the man who is afraid everything rustles. - Sophocles
  An "aphorism" is a short, pithy saying or adage, like "The future is a mirror without any glass in it".
• "catch phrase": a phrase in wide or popular use, especially one used as a "slogan" for a group or movement, e.g., it takes one to know one, every home should have one.
  A "catch phrase" is a saying in popular use, such as a slogan, like "Cowabunga!"
• "cliché": trite, obvious, overused expression, e.g., beat a dead horse, get off your high horse, rain cats and dogs.
  A "cliché" is a commonplace or stereotyped phrase that has been overused, such as "all the tea in China."
• "colloquialism": expression not used in formal writing or speech. "Slang", "jargon", and "idioms" are examples of "colloquialisms".
  "Colloquialisms" are simply informal expressions, especially those of a local or regional dialect, like "gonna" or "gotcha."
• "euphemism": substitution of a mild, vague, or indirect term for a more harsh or offensive term; e.g., personal hygiene, light housekeeping, the trots, white elephant.
  A "euphemism" is an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive, e.g., "ladies' room" instead of "bathroom."
• "idiom": an expression having a sense peculiar to itself and not agreeing with the logical sense of its structural form; an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up; e.g., the last straw, fine art, red-letter day, show someone the door.
  An "idiom" is described as an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the conjoined meanings of the words in the expression, such as "break a leg," "couch potato," "hit the hay," or "Third World."
• "jargon": specialist or occupational slang; e.g., "critical path analysis" in management, "New Left" in politics, "bank shot" in billiards.
  "Jargon" is a general term for the special or technical terminology that is characteristic of a particular subject or field, like the terminology of bingo.
• "metaphor": figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, e.g., Keep your shirt on, pied piper, poetic justice.
  A "metaphor" is a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote, in order to suggest a similarity, e.g., "He looked at her with an eagle eye" and "We are on the road to peace."
• "simile": figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as, e.g., happy as a clam, out like a light.
  A "simile" is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds and it is infiltrated with like or as, e.g., "happy as a clam" or "frisky as a kitten."
• "slang": casual and playful language that is humorous, irreverent, offensive, or used for effect; e.g., pimpmobile, four on the floor, jump ship, hot and bothered.
  "Slang" is informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions and often such expressions are considered to be vulgar or irreverent, as in "get it together" or "psycho."

merriam-webster.com
Poor Richard and aphorism, maxim, and proverb

• Der "Aphorismus", engl. "Aphorism", geht zurück auf ein griechisches Wort für "Definition" und ist eine kurze Formulierung einer Wahrheit oder einer Meinung.
• Die "Maxime", engl. "Maxim", geht zurück auf lat. "groß" und bezeichnet eine allgemeingültige Wahrheit oder ein fundamentales Prinzip.
• Das Sprichwort, engl. "Proverb", geht zurück auf lat. "pro" = "vor" und "verb" = "Wort" bezeichnet eine Maxime oder ein kurzes populäres Epigramm.

wolframalpha
Aphorisms

Aphorisms

• complete an aphorism a penny saved
• complete an aphorism two things are infinite
• complete an aphorism Why did the chicken cross the road?

Geary, James
The World in a Phrase
A Brief History of the Aphorism

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From Booklist
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There are rules, the author tells us, for aphorisms, five of them, in fact. Keep it short, definitive (no waffling allowed), and personal. It should have a twist, some hidden meaning or surprise. And it must be philosophical in nature, forcing you to contemplate how universal truths are hidden in the particulars of daily life.
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