hieroglyphic vs proverbial

hieroglyphic

adj
  • of, relating to, or written with this system of symbols 

  • difficult to decipher 

noun
  • Undecipherable handwriting or secret symbol. 

  • Any symbol used in this system; a hieroglyph. 

  • A writing system of ancient Egypt, Minoans, Maya and other civilizations, using pictorial symbols to represent individual sounds as a rebus 

proverbial

adj
  • Of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, cliché, fable, or fairy tale. 

  • Not used in a literal sense, but as the subject of a well-known metaphor. 

  • Widely known; famous; stereotypical. 

noun
  • Used to replace a word that might be considered unacceptable in a particular situation, when using a well-known phrase. 

  • The groin or the testicles. 

How often have the words hieroglyphic and proverbial occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )