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alphalfa
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
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 Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:26 pm Post subject: help with English proverbs.. |
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An English Zone has been created here at my school. As I walked up the stairs from the fourth floor to the fifth floor, I saw various English proverbs pasted on the stairs[english-korean]. I wrote down two of them because they seemed somewhat strange the way they were written.
One says, " As a man sows, so he shall reap. " I think it should
have said " As you sow, so shall you reap. " I seem to recall another version of this which says " You reap what you sow. "
* they took from the original proverb and made a reference to 'man' *
The other one says, " Well begun is half done. "
I'm not sure whether it's correct or not. Anyone out there know?
This is not all that is wrong with the English zone. Just one example.
-there's a flag banner strung from the ceiling showing various country flags. Upon inspection, there is NO Canadian OR American flag displayed.
ARG! |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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My guess is they are taking them from some Korean book.
I agree that there are more modern versions of the 1st.,
the second one is actually a Korean proverb translated to English.
I don't know if there really is a good English equivalent. |
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semi-fly
Joined: 07 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| alphalfa wrote: |
| "As a man sows, so he shall reap." |
I believe it is "What you sow is what you reap." or the more common form "You reap what you sow." or a funny version "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
| alphalfa wrote: |
| The other one says, " Well begun is half done." I'm not sure whether it's correct or not. Anyone out there know? |
Well begun is half done.
Variant: Well begun is half ended. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721 |
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Cracker006
Joined: 11 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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Both sound fine to me.
You reap what you sow... is an updated version. In old books it usually says "As a man sows, so shall he reap"
Well begun is half done... Dude, didn't you ever watch Mary Poppins? She sings a song about a spoon full of sugar, right after she says "Well Begun is Half Done!" |
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