English Proverbs with Meaning

Keep a thing seven years and you will find a use for it

Baki Goxhaj — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:55:43 +0000

If you keep a seemingly useless thing for a long enough time, you will probably have some occasion to use it during that time. The proverb does not teach us to keep useless things for exactly seven years before we get rid of them, but instead it teaches us to be prudent with throwing stuff away as we might need them soon enough, so better keep them around for a little longer.

My husband bought me an useless antique chair for my birthday. What am I supposed to do with it? — complained Anne.

Well, you know, keep it seven years and you’ll find some use for it. — her friend Sarah teased her.

Origin: First written account of the proverb is found on The Palace of Pleasure of William Painter published in 1623.

Things of small value the old proverb say, Wise men seuen yeares will carefully vp lay.

Cat got your tongue

Baki Goxhaj — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 08:36:21 +0000

“Has the cat got your tongue?” is an expression in the form of a question that originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was used when addressing a child who refused to answer a parent’s questions after some mischief. It is often shortened to “cat got your tongue?”. It means that you are having trouble thinking of a way to speak and/or answer a question that has been posed to you, so it seems like you cannot talk. When someone says or asks “cat has your tongue,” it technically means you are speechless, you can’t think of anything else to say.

Hi, Anna! How are you? How’s your Mom? Are you surprised to see me? What’s the matter, has the cat got your tongue?

You could also ask the person, “Cat got your tongue?” to start a conversation with them.

As of how the proverb came into being, there are several theories trying to give an answer to that:

1 – The saying comes from the Middle East, where as punishment, liars had their tongues ripped out and fed to the king’s cats.

2 – Fear of a whipping with a cat-o’-nine-tails, or “cat” for short, could paralyze a victim into silence.

3 – The expression comes from the Middle Ages when witches were greatly feared and often put to death. It was believed that if you saw a witch, her cat would somehow “steal” or control your tongue so you couldn’t report the sighting.

4 – There’s no particular logic to ‘cat got your tongue,’ except that cats have served as the object of human myth and metaphor for thousands of years. — Evan Morris of Word Detective.

However, the earliest written form of the expression can be traced back to the Oxford English Dictionary of 1911.

All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet

Baki Goxhaj — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:44:17 +0000

Everyone wants success but many lack the self-discipline to become successful. They might hope in luck, but fortune favours the bold.

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely

Baki Goxhaj — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:10:21 +0000

Absolute monarchies are those in which all power is given to or, as is more often the case, taken by, the monarch. Examples of absolute power corrupting are Roman emperors (who declared themselves gods) and Napoleon Bonaparte (who declared himself an emperor).

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely” arose as part of a quotation by historian and moralist Lord Actonn (1834–1902). He expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

A cat in gloves catches no mice

Baki Goxhaj — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:24:48 +0000

Sometimes you cannot get what you want by being careful and polite. Restraint and caution (or ‘pussyfooting’) achieve nothing. This is similar to the French 14th century proverb: chat engaunté ne surrizera ja bien, which means: a gloved cat will never mouse well.

A burden of one’s own choice is not felt

Baki Goxhaj — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:21:20 +0000

Something difficult seems easier when it is done voluntarily.

A beggar can never be bankrupt

Baki Goxhaj — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:14:55 +0000

People who have a lot to lose have a lot of worries but if you are poor you might sleep better. The rich man contemplating financial disaster or about to take a major risk might quote this out of bravado but only to focus his mind on the consequences of failure.

Would this really be much comfort to a beggar?

A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit

Baki Goxhaj — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:07:37 +0000

With the time, the money and the effort that a case at court of law requires, it is better to make a compromise with the one you are involved in disagreement with, even though it might be not so much on your advantage, rather than go the the court of low.

The proverb teaches wise and careful decision making.

Note that there is spread another version of this proverbs that goes: A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit. The words corn primise are actually a type of the word compromise.

A bad beginning makes a bad ending

Baki Goxhaj — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:57:04 +0000

If you start a thing badly it takes a long time to finish it, because the bad start seriously affects the later work. But if you make a good start, everything follows naturally and easily. That is why Well begun is half done.

This proverb is attributed to Euripides, the Greek tragic dramatist.

The worth of a thing is best known by the want of it

Baki Goxhaj — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:28:49 +0000

It is only when we have been deprived of something that we appreciate the true value of it. One illustration of this is, of course, the other proverb: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.