An Apple A Day

Old-Fashioned Proverbs and Why They Still Work

Caroline Taggart

• Publisher: Michael O'Mara
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781782430094
• eBook ISBN:
  9781843176527
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Customs & Traditions
• Index: Social Sciences

Does absence really make the heart grow fonder? Can beggars be choosers? Is it always better late than never?
Proverbs are short, well-known, pithy sayings that offer advice or words of encouragement and are used in everyday English without much thought ever being given to their meanings, or indeed, usefulness. In An Apple A Day Caroline Taggart explores the truth behind our favourite proverbs, their history and whether they offer any genuine help to the recipient. Did you know that The Old Testament has an entire book devoted to proverbs? Or that 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' is a proverb from falconry that dates back to the Middle Ages? Many proverbs are still in use today, including the very famous 'slow and steady wins the race', which derives from one of the many fables of Aesop. Lighthearted but authoritative, An Apple A Day proves that proverbs are as useful today as they ever were.

List of proverbs

A

Absence makes the heart grow fonder/Out of sight, out of mind

Actions speak louder than words/Fine words butter no parsnips

It takes all sorts to make a world

All that glitters is not gold

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All’s fair in love and war/The end justifies the means

All’s well that ends well

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Ask no questions and you’ll be told no lies

B

A bad penny always turns up

A bad workman blames his tools

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder/There’s no accounting for taste/Love is blind

Beauty is only skin deep

You’ve made your bed, so you must lie in it

Beggars can’t be choosers

Better late than never

Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t

It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Birds of a feather flock together

Once bitten, twice shy

There is none so blind as he who will not see

Blood is thicker than water

You can’t get blood out of a stone

Boys will be boys/You’re only young once

Brevity is the soul of wit

You can’t make bricks without straw

A new broom sweeps clean

C

You can’t have your cake and eat it too

There is always calm after a storm

If the cap fits, wear it

A cat may look at a king

When the cat’s away, the mice will play

A change is as good as a rest

Don’t change horses in midstream

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

Charity begins at home

The child is father of the man

Children should be seen and not heard

Cleanliness is next to godliness

Every cloud has a silver lining

Cold hands, warm heart

Two’s company, three’s a crowd

Comparisons are odious

Too many cooks spoil the broth/Many hands make light work

Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched

In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

The course of true love never did run smooth

Don’t cross your bridges before you come to them

You’ve got to be cruel to be kind

It’s no use crying over spilt milk

Curiosity killed the cat

D

The darkest hour is before the dawn

Desperate situations call for desperate measures

The devil finds work for idle hands

Discretion is the better part of valour

Distance lends enchantment

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Give a dog a bad name and hang him

A drowning man will clutch at a straw

E

The early bird catches the worm

Early to bed, early to rise…

Easier said than done

Easy come, easy go

You’ve got to eat a peck of dirt before you die

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

An elephant never forgets

An Englishman’s home is his castle

Enough is as good as a feast

To err is human, to forgive divine

Every little helps

Everything comes to those who wait

The exception proves the rule

What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over

F

Familiarity breeds contempt

Fling enough dirt and some will stick

A fool and his money are soon parted

Only fools and horses work

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Forewarned is forearmed

A friend in need is a friend indeed

G

Give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself

You can’t serve God and Mammon

God helps those who help themselves

Whom the gods love dies young

What goes around comes around

One good turn deserves another

Good wine needs no bush

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

H

Half a loaf is better than no bread

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

Handsome is as handsome does

You might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb

More haste, less speed

Two heads are better than one

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

He who hesitates is lost/Better safe than sorry

Home is where the heart is/There’s no place like home

Honesty is the best policy

There is honour among thieves

Hope springs eternal in the human breast

You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink

Hunger is the best sauce

I

Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise

It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

J

Jack of all trades is master of none

If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well

Never judge a book by its cover

K

Knowledge is power

L

It’s the last straw that breaks a camel’s back

Laugh and the world laughs with you

He who laughs last laughs longest

Laughter is the best medicine

Least said soonest mended

A leopard cannot change his spots

Lightning never strikes twice in the same place

A little learning is a dangerous thing

Little things please little minds

Live and let live

The longest journey begins with a single step

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

Look before you leap

What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

Love is blind

M

Every man has his price

A man is known by the company he keeps

A man’s best friend is his dog

One man’s meat is another man’s poison

Manners makyth man

Marry in haste, repent at leisure

A miss is as good as a mile

Money doesn’t grow on trees

N

Necessity is the mother of invention

Needs must when the devil drives

No news is good news/Bad news travels fast

Noblesse oblige

There’s nothing new under the sun

Nothing ventured, nothing gained/Faint heart never won fair lady/Fortune favours the brave

O

You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs

P

Patience is a virtue

He who pays the piper calls the tune

The pen is mightier than the sword

Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves

In for a penny, in for a pound

People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

Little pitchers have big ears...

Table of contents

• Cover
• A Proverb
• Title Page
• Copyright
• About the Author
• Acknowledgements
• List of proverbs
• Bibliography
• Footnotes