Age-old sayings I disagree with!

Getting this out of the way

Language is not my forte, which infers that I'm not good at it. This further indicates that writing anything more than a few sentences is a struggle for me. If you can glimpse into my mind, you'll probably see a whole lot of disconnected words floating around. It's an alphabet stew. It's a porridge of words. It's a gumbo of phrases. You get the point.

Writing anything meant searching through the seemingly infinite space of my brain cavity - called the mind. A daunting task to say the least. Sometimes, I can see the word I needed floating in there. It's the right word to use. And I know that it'll make an impact once I put it in my sentence. But, for the life of me, getting a clear look at that word is near impossible. It is just a tad beyond reach. Any amount of effort to get a clearer focus is futile. The synapses weren't firing enough. In the end, I end up using a poor substitute. Much like the sea of sugar substitutes out there, it is just NOT sugar!

It's a truth I have accepted but that doesn't mean I stop writing and stop having fun with English. Despite the fact that at times these words play hard to get, I still get a kick out of pursuing them. Almost similar to wooing Rusty. I must focus on my goal and truth be told, I'm a glutton for punishment. So, I say, bring it on. Give me a buffet of toughness! Lol!

Goals in life

All of us have goals in life. We must have. Even if you don't, then that is your goal by choice. So, one of my recent goals since starting to write is to have some fun with English. My last article was a start. This one will continue in that vein.

This line of thought was sparked by a few prompts. English is fun but it is also one of the most difficult languages to learn, let alone, master.

We do love a challenge, don't we? Since the language also evolving, I had this nagging thought in my mind. Yes, the meaning of words can change. A topic that I had attempted to write about in a brief article on the Publish0x platform. When the time is right, I'll do a more complete one here at ReadCash.

Despite the fact that it is no easy task, I will do another daring attempt. An attempt to go against conventional wisdom (in the truest sense of the word) in this article.

On top of that, I'm attempting to write it without doing any prior research and fully relying on a desire to write based on one idea I had. One lightbulb. Not a chandelier worth of lightbulbs! That one lightbulb that sparked this article is my point No. 1 below, which incidentally, you'll have to read from my previous article to get the point.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

So, here goes. I'll attempt to go through a few common proverbs and see if they are still relevant or if I agree with them.

I'll start with one I mentioned in my last article:

1. Necessity is the mother of inventions

Do hop on over there to see my argument why I don't agree with this.

2. All Roads Lead to Rome

This is no longer relevant. Otherwise, we wouldn't need GPS or Waze. Besides, if this was true, I'd be terrified of going out. I may never get back home. Why? Because all roads lead to Rome and none leads Home. LOL. It rhymes. Ahem...A little pat on my back here.

Since we're on the topic of Rome, here's another one.

3. When in Rome, do as the Romans do

As if being forced to go to Rome on that one road wasn't enough, now I have to do what the Romans do. I have no clue whatsoever what Romans do. What are the consequences of non-compliance? I Hope my Roman readers can help.

A side fun here: If those who live in Rome are called Romans, why aren't those who stay at Home called Homans? Oh wait...it's Humans. Close enough. Loving English more and more.

4. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones

Okay. This one is borderline silly. For one thing, have you ever heard of anyone living in glass houses? Secondly, if this was true, I wouldn't worry too much about throwing stones. I'd worry about how I am gonna take a bath without exposing myself for the world to see!

I propose to scrap this one from our vocabulary and change it to "Those who live in wooden houses should not play with fire" Makes more sense.

5. Too many cooks spoil the broth

Broth? The broth is nothing. It's trivial. The damage done is much greater than that. What it will do is raise the payroll cost. Unchecked, it will bankrupt the restaurant! If you have so many cooks that can spoil the broth, it clearly shows that you don't need that many cooks. I posit that either "One bad cook is all it takes to spoil the broth" or "Bad planning and workforce management spoil the broth".

6. Marriage is a lottery

Not sure how many of you have heard this proverb before. I'm in agreement but with one caveat. Generally, marriage is not a lottery. This is true only if it's preceded by Love is blind. It's obvious that if you enter blindly, you'll have a rude awakening! I think it is obvious but if it's not, comment, and I'll expound further. So, it's more correct to say "When Love is Blind, Marriage is a lottery"

7. No News is Good News

Come on. Good news is good news. No news can only mean a few things. One of them is obviously that you need to take it at face value - no news. The other is that there is a communication breakdown. In which case, you may want to check your phone, tv, and radio. Those may need fixing. "No news is bad news. Your phone, tv, and radio may be broken."

8. There is no smoke without fire

From my experience, this is not always the case. In fact, most times when there's a fire, there may not be smoke. I don't see smokes when I light up aromatic candles, lighters, or stoves.

But, I can guarantee that when there is a barbeque going on, there will always be smoke. Oh, and the aroma from that is something else. I'll have to apologize for this. My stomach has hijacked my article. Fret not. I've wrestled back control. We may proceed without any further issues. That cup of coffee helped pacify it.

9. A heavy purse makes a light heart

I laugh when I read this. Really? How big is the purse? What's in it? What if it has tons of bricks in it?

Yeah, you get my drift. I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that a wheelbarrow full of money beats having a heavy purse any day. The game changes when you're talking about cryptocurrencies. Both wheelbarrows and heavy purses are totally useless then.

10. Dead man tell no tales

Whoever concocted this hadn't been exposed to the numerous Crime and Forensic TV shows. A dead man (or woman) tells plenty of tales. Doesn't matter if newly dead, long time dead. They all tell tales.

11. Don't put all your eggs in one basket

I have actually thought about this one for quite a while. Not for this article but over the past year or so. What got me thinking is the fact that there's a deciding factor in this proverb.

I'll ask the question and you should get what I mean. If other baskets cost more than your eggs, would you still use more than one basket? If for example, 2 baskets cost more than your eggs and one basket, wouldn't you use just one basket instead?

Thank you very much. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. You must do your own research on the cost of the baskets and know your eggs. Not all eggs are equal. "Know your baskets, know your eggs."

12. Don't put your cart before the horse

All I can say is that when this proverb came out, Porsches weren't available. Otherwise, they'll know the thrill of sitting on the cart before the horse. Thank you Porsches. I know. There is no substitute.

13. The early bird catches the worm

I know this is supposed to inspire those to be fast, early, and prompt. I don't look at it from this perspective. Over the years, I've learned to look at things from different perspectives. I'd like to think that it has made me wiser. In this case, I look at it from the worm's perspective - The early worm gets eaten. As I typed the last sentence, Grammarly smiley at the bottom right turned sad! Almost seemed in agreement with my perspective.

14. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again

I'll end with this one. If you really think about it, this does not always work. It doesn't work for skydiving.

All good things come to an end

This is another fun article to write. Hopefully, you've enjoyed reading it. I may revisit this as I come across more proverbs in the future that intrigued me.

Meanwhile, thank you for reading, and do share in the comment section proverbs that you think need new interpretations or your version of updates.

Stay safe!

Sources:

Header: Unsplash.com - S O C I A L . C U T

Image 1: Unsplash.com - Markus Winkler

Image 2: Unsplash.com - Mike Swigunski

Image 3 Unsplash.com - Vaclav

Thank you for reading and have fun with English. Remember to share your experience in the comment section.

Do drop by to say hi at my following addresses. I promise I'll be at home :)

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