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06 Dec 10 - 05:02 AM (#3047275) Subject: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: MGM·Lion The proverb "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" has just been quoted several times on the ongoing "Racial slurs in quotations" thread. But is it not contradicted by another familiar proverb, about the Pen being Mightier then the Sword? Similarly "Too many cooks spoil the broth" countered by "Many hands make light work"; "Look before you leap" & "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" both contradicted by "Nothing venture, nothing win". Indeed many familiar proverbs seem to be quarrelled with by others equally familiar. More examples? ~Michael~ |
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06 Dec 10 - 05:24 AM (#3047280) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: The Fooles Troupe Depends on the interpretations given to each proverb. |
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06 Dec 10 - 05:37 AM (#3047283) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: Crane Driver If you wish to appear wise, it is best to have a proverb to quote on every occasion. |
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06 Dec 10 - 07:03 AM (#3047323) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: GUEST,Patsy 'The bigger they are the harder they fall' well at 5ft I'm not going to put that one to the test, I am not that foolhardy. |
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06 Dec 10 - 09:02 AM (#3047398) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: GUEST, Sminky Michael - you can add "Strike while the iron is hot" as a counter to "Look before you leap". |
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06 Dec 10 - 10:10 AM (#3047429) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: GUEST, Sminky Absence makes the heart grow fonder | Out of sight, out of mind. The pen is mightier than the sword | Actions speak louder than words. Birds of a feather flock together | Opposites attract. You're never too old to learn | You can't teach an old dog new tricks Two's company, three's a crowd | The more, the merrier. Don't judge a book by its cover | Clothes make the man. Slow and steady wins the race | Time waits for no man. |
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06 Dec 10 - 10:40 AM (#3047456) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: GUEST,Patsy Too many cooks spoil the broth. Marry in haste repent at Leisure. The pen is mightier than the sword. There is no smoke without fire. A bakers dozen / 13. |
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06 Dec 10 - 10:49 AM (#3047458) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: Little Hawk I've also heard it said that preparing for war is the best way to secure peace while others say that an arms race is the surest way to make war inevitable...and there appears to be much historical justification for either view...depending on how you look at it. |
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06 Dec 10 - 12:06 PM (#3047516) Subject: RE: BS: Contrdictory proverbs From: Bill D "I never met a man I didn't like." Will Rogers "Some people are like Slinkies; they serve no specific purpose, but they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs." anon wait...maybe those aren't contradictory. |
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06 Dec 10 - 03:58 PM (#3047666) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity! GfS |
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06 Dec 10 - 04:00 PM (#3047667) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T Only sailors get blown offshore |
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06 Dec 10 - 05:07 PM (#3047703) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: GUEST,TIA Not contradictory, but my favorite Charley Chan (perhaps a racist series of books/movies) line: "Action speak louder than French" |
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06 Dec 10 - 05:58 PM (#3047741) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: MGM·Lion ... and I like Damon Runyon's take on one of Solomon's Proverbs ~~ The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that is the way to bet. ~M~ |
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06 Dec 10 - 06:17 PM (#3047752) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Little Hawk Victory doesn't always go to the big battalions either....but it usually does. Two cases where it didn't: The Battle of Midway (where weaker American forces achieved complete surprise due to excellent codebreaking of Japanese military messages). The fighting on the Eastern Front in WWI where a numerically much smaller German Army achieved decisive victories over an enormous but terribly incompetent and poorly trained Russian Army. That eventually led to the Russian revolution in 1917 and an armistace between Russia and the Central Powers...but it came just a little too late to win the Germans the war. |
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07 Dec 10 - 12:43 AM (#3047905) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity Little Hawk: ' Victory doesn't always go to the big battalions either....but it usually does. Two cases where it didn't:".....Alvin York killed 21 German soldiers and captured 132 on October 8, 1918....by himself! GfS |
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07 Dec 10 - 01:03 AM (#3047912) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: mousethief you can add "Strike while the iron is hot" as a counter to "Look before you leap". Also, "He who hesitates is lost." Contrasted with, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Is there an opposite for, "In for a penny, in for a pound" or its cousin, "Just as soon be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb"? |
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07 Dec 10 - 02:42 AM (#3047926) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: MGM·Lion Mousethief ~~ how about: Look after the pence & the pounds will take care of themselves? ~M~ |
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07 Dec 10 - 07:18 AM (#3048020) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: saulgoldie This thread is GREAT! My wife teaches English to second language speakers, and idioms are an important part of her lessons. I will share this thread with her, and I hope people keep contributing! Saul |
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07 Dec 10 - 09:39 AM (#3048080) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: mousethief MtheGM -- that's about pence and pounds, but it's using them to make a statement about something else, it seems. Here's two opposites, quite plain to see:
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07 Dec 10 - 03:44 PM (#3048280) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Little Hawk Well, it kind of proves how the human mind can always come up with a line to justify any specific course of action, doesn't it? ;-) |
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07 Dec 10 - 03:46 PM (#3048283) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T There is no cure for curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat. But, satisfaction brought him back. |
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07 Dec 10 - 03:55 PM (#3048295) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T Silence is an attribute of the dead; he who is alive speaks. Silence is golden, speech is silver. |
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07 Dec 10 - 04:13 PM (#3048311) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Little Hawk With age comes wisdom. There's no fool like an old fool. |
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07 Dec 10 - 05:12 PM (#3048347) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: JohnInKansas 'The bigger they are the harder they fall' ... In my area that would be considered a misquoting. Here, it's usually The bigger they are the harder they HIT. Reflection on the difference may discover some link to the idiotic obsession with "American footbal," but I believe "our" version first came from a rather old (40s or 50s?) movie. John |
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07 Dec 10 - 05:13 PM (#3048348) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Mo the caller Nothing ventured nothing gained..... A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
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07 Dec 10 - 05:18 PM (#3048352) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: olddude idiotic obsession with "American football Back off Bucko !! American Football is a real sport |
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07 Dec 10 - 05:44 PM (#3048373) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T An old fool is worse than a young simpleton. An old lion is better than a young ass. |
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07 Dec 10 - 05:57 PM (#3048385) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T What came first, the chicken or the egg? Ask a silly question and you get a silly answer. |
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07 Dec 10 - 06:08 PM (#3048394) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: mousethief You can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's never to late to learn. |
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07 Dec 10 - 07:16 PM (#3048428) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T Birds of a feather flock together. Don't judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins |
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07 Dec 10 - 07:27 PM (#3048431) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T "Don't change horses in midstream" "Know when to cut your losses and let your profits run" |
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07 Dec 10 - 07:30 PM (#3048434) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T Familiarity breeds contempt Better the devil you know than the devil you don't |
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07 Dec 10 - 07:41 PM (#3048440) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T If first you don't succeed, try, try again Opportunity never knocks twice at any man's door |
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07 Dec 10 - 07:51 PM (#3048449) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T The best things in life are free For every joy, there is a price to be paid Or, The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it |
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07 Dec 10 - 08:03 PM (#3048457) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T Marriages are made in heaven Below the navel there is neither religion nor truth |
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07 Dec 10 - 10:43 PM (#3048512) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: MGM·Lion Fine feathers make fine birds, eh? But beauty is only skin deep, isn't it? ~M~ |
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07 Dec 10 - 11:46 PM (#3048532) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Doug Chadwick Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Beware Greeks bearing gifts. or There's no such thing as a free lunch. |
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08 Dec 10 - 12:09 AM (#3048538) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: mousethief Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. vs I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets. - Napoleon |
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08 Dec 10 - 04:46 AM (#3048609) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: GUEST,Patsy An empty mind is the devil's playground - so if I am not thinking about anything in particular does that mean I am dangerous? Having the temper of a racehorse - I have never seen one have an arguement with anyone as far as I know. Empty vessels make the most sound - huh? |
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08 Dec 10 - 07:19 AM (#3048692) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Ed T "Be on a horse when you go in search of a better one" "Before you mount, look to the girth" I suspect these relate to horse riding. Hopefully, not mating, nor marriage:) |
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08 Dec 10 - 10:00 AM (#3048815) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: Bee-dubya-ell Since there are at least two unwise ways of doing something for every wise way, the existence of of seemingly contradictory proverbs is not only unsurprising, but inevitable. Proverbs are meant to promote wise behavior. Wise behavior often exists toward the middle of a behavioral spectrum and is flanked by unwise behaviors on either end. For every wise mode of behavior there are two opposing unwise modes. For example, responsible frugality is flanked by miserliness on the left and spendthriftness on the right. "Look before you leap" and "take the bull by the horns" are proverbs which seem contradictory, but really aren't. One addresses the problem of rashness while the other addresses the problem of indecisiveness. Rashness and indecisiveness are opposite but equally defective modes of decision making. The two proverbs are both meant to steer one away from opposite but equally undesirable extremes and toward a more reasonable and prudent middle. |
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08 Dec 10 - 10:27 AM (#3048831) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: GUEST,Patsy One funny saying from a Devonish girl I used to know way back 'The horse has to be shod before it's ridden/mounted' I believe she was trying to get a new pair of shoes out of her tight husband. |
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08 Dec 10 - 11:41 AM (#3048893) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: eddie1 Whoever said. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." has obviously never spent a couple of hours in the bushes with two birds! (For the benefit of our non-UK friends, "bird" is UK slang for a young, usually attractive, lady.) Eddie |
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08 Dec 10 - 01:32 PM (#3048968) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: mousethief I remember in the Uncle Bonsai song, "Penis Envy" that they sang, "One in the hand is worth one in the bush." I'm sure they were talking about our avian friends amongst the shrubbery. |
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09 Dec 10 - 04:48 AM (#3049414) Subject: RE: BS: Contradictory proverbs From: GUEST,BobL A bird entering a bush is typical folksong symbolism: sounds totally innocent, but everyone knows what's going on. But applied to your proverbial bird in the hand... |