I've written a post like this before, on one of the phrases I'll be mentioning below. The phrase I used was "blood is thicker than water", and I showed the origin of the phrase along with what it was meant to truly mean vs. how society has warped it to their own convenience. I was recently reading an article along the same lines as the one I wrote, and I found in the comments a bunch of other phrases that have been shortened and misconstrued over time. Today, I'm dedicating a post to listing a good handful of these phrases and to writing about what they actually mean.
"Curiosity killed the cat" VS. "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back" The original saying ends with "but satisfaction brought it back", but the commonly used phrase is better known for its first half. The meaning that we've given to the phrase is that sometimes, being curious is a bad thing that can end up hurting you. For example, listening in on a significant other's phone call and discovering they're cheating... however, the satisfaction that could come from this scenario is realizing that your partner was being unfaithful and getting out of the bad situation. There is always some form of satisfaction to be had when finding out something you never knew. "Jack of all trades, master of none" VS. "Jack of all trades, master of none, but better than a master of one" The meaning that has been brought to this saying over time is a negative one, making it out as though being okay at multiple things is bad if you can't master any. The ACTUAL saying means almost the exact opposite- that being okay at a lot of things and not being GREAT at any is better than only being good at one thing in general. I like the positive connotation. "Great minds think alike" VS. "Great minds think alike, but fools rarely differ" Great minds think alike is a saying I'm pretty sure we're all guilty of using. It's so common today, but no one seems to remember the full meaning to the saying. The idea is that it's awesome to have shared ideas and to be understood, but the actual meaning of the phrase winds down to stating that if everyone thinks alike, there isn't much diversity and you end up following the crowd (like a fool). "Birds of a feather flock together" VS. "Birds of a feather flock together, until the cat comes" This phrase is often used to signify friendship- people with similar interests do indeed tend to get along well. People with similar beliefs often enjoy being around others who share their beliefs, and so on and so forth. However, the original meaning behind this saying warns against fairweather friends... who may share your beliefs until the cows come home, but will leave you when the first sign of hardship appears. "The early bird gets the worm" VS. "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese" This saying is often used to remind people to be early and to keep on time- at least the first half of it, anyway. Instead of singling people out and making them feel bad, this phrase was actually meant to say that it's okay if you're late, it's okay if you're early- there can be benefits to both, and at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. That's all that I've found for right now, but I've always thought it was really interesting how these phrases have been cut down over the years... and how different they've become. I think it's funny, too, how all the cut-down phrases seem to encourage similarity and fitting in, while the full proverbs often seek individuality and personal choice. In honesty, most of the full proverbs seem to promote a message of living life your own way- and I appreciate that. - Maddie
4 Comments
J
12/16/2017 11:56:09 am
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/295406/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-great-minds-think-alike
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M
10/25/2021 07:09:57 pm
You know that 2 of your own links disagrees with you, right?
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Miri
5/5/2021 04:04:04 am
Hi! I'm not sure how I got to this blog but this post draws me the and again when i to share the full sayings with my friends. Thank you :)
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Wren
8/12/2021 03:20:33 pm
Blood is thicker than water = the blood of the covenant is thicker than the waters of the womb. The full saying actually means the opposite of the shortened one!
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