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.
You'll find they've got you by the proverbials.
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.
proverbial spilled milk
Widely known; famous; stereotypical.
I grew up in a prefab house on Main Street in 1950s suburbia, the second and last child of a proverbial nuclear family.