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Capergirl · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2004 10:45 pm Post subject: Proverbs: Obsolete?

Do people not know proverbs anymore? I gave an assignment to my students last week. They were each to find the meanings of a number of English proverbs by asking native English speakers. Upon asking English speakers what the meanings are for these proverbs, however, they were more often than not met with blank stares. Rolling Eyes

Here are some of the proverbs to illustrate:

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill.
We will cross that bridge when we come to it.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
His bark is worse than his bite.
Forbidden fruit always tastes the sweetest.

These are fairly common proverbs, are they not? Confused

johnslat

Dear Capergirl,
They all seem very common to me. But then, I'm not a member of the MTV generation. Perhaps being familar with proverbs means that one has to read, a pastime that seems to be in steep decline.
There's a wonderful little book called "The Son of a Duck is a Floater", which compares English proverbs with Arab ones:

http://www.isna.com/bsod.html

http://www.interlinkbooks.com/Apricots_Tomorrow.html

Regards,
John

tammy · Joined: 07 Jan 2004 Posts: 45

I've heard all those proverbs before, Capergirl. Even if I hadn't, I'd say that most of them were pretty self-explanatory, especially to a native speaker Confused

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

I'm of the MTV generation, and I've heard all those before as well. BUt they are hard to explain to non-native speakers because they're proverbs, if that makes sense.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject: Shared ideas

Dear naturegirl,

"BUt they are hard to explain to non-native speakers because they're proverbs, if that makes sense."

Ah, but one of the wonderful things about humanity is that it tends to share so many ideas - including proverbs: same thought put in different words. That's what the book I mentioned - The Son of a Duck is a Floater -does. It gives the Arabic proverb and the English translation of that proverb, and then provides a proverb in English that "matches" it. For example, the title is the English translation of an Arabic proverb. A corresponding proverb in English could be

Like father, like son.

or

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Regards,
John

Capergirl · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2004 12:02 pm Post subject:

I had a hunch that most, if not all, of the folks on this forum would be familiar with these proverbs. Since we teach English, it stands to reason that we are knowledgable about such things. My question is: Does the average Joe Schmo know these proverbs? I'm going to start randomly asking people. Seriously. Cool

Steiner · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 573 Location: Hunan China

I'm screwing up the quote and I don't know who said it (maybe P.T. Barnum?), but no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. See there, I'm using "American" to refer to all of the U.S. and Canada. Watching Jay Leno's interviews with people on the street when he asks them simple questions makes me believe that there are people who wouldn't be able to figure out these proverbs.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:22 pm Post subject: The Boobocracy

Dear Steiner,
Close, but it was that gadfly, Mencken, who said:

�No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people.�
H.L. Mencken

Regards,
John

Steiner · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 573 Location: Hunan China

I knew someone would know and I'm not surprised it was you. Thanks.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:54 pm Post subject: Trivial Pursuits

Dear Steiner,
Trivia is my life - and vice versa.
Regards,
John