Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

His t-shirt says "all work but not play makes John a dull boy." And he is a living proof of the saying.

Is that a natural way to say he has fun while doing hardwork and his shirt says it all?
Thanks

[Anuradha Chepur]

Yeah, that sounds quite natural,
Or you could also say
The slogan on his T-shirt says/reads.........He is a living/live proof...

Indian tennis sensation, Sania Mirza, is also famous for her slogan T-shirts.
The most popular of her slogans is:
"Women who behave properly rarely make history."

(Edited for a typo.)

[bud]

I like Mirza's slogan!

In the U.S., we say, "All work and no play makes Jack (John) a dull boy."

So I'd suggest making that small edit and remove "a" before "living proof" (along with some punctuation changes):

His t-shirt says, "All work and no play makes John a dull boy," and he is living proof of the saying.

[Lorikeet]

The only problem is that if you say that, my idea is that the person wearing the T-shirt just works a lot and has no leisure time and is very dull. It says nothing about him having fun while working.

[bud]

But if a guy is wearing that t-shirt, isn't he saying that he plays a lot and so is not dull? And if someone says he is living proof of that saying, aren't they saying that he is not at all dull? That's how I read it, but I can see your point, too. I guess it could go either way.

[asterix]

I don't think it was a compliment, either.

[bud]

Neither do I. I think she meant the guy is a goofball, though - not a dullard.