FUN COMPARISONS AND DESCRIPTIVES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE...

This thread is about idiomatic speech. Sometimes regional patterns and sometimes general usage. Included here are adages and proverbs as well.

After Sunday's Panthers game, i was reminded of a lot of "wetter than" sayings. Here are some that struck me as particularly interesting. In all fairness, there are a lot of "wetter than" sayings that could be a little off-color, but still humorous. I've avoided them for the most part.

"It's wetter than a fire hydrant on a dog walk"

"It's wetter than a mermaid's flipper"

"It's wetter than tadpoles in a frog pond"


Wanting to be "fair", here's a couple about "dry" stuff.  OK, so "how dry is it..??

"It's so dry my duck forgot how to swim"

"It's so dry the catfish are swimming with canteens"

If you're interested.... in a previous post there is a "dry" saying about a "popcorn fart". It required some provenance that I couldn't find, since the saying came out of one of my old spiral notebooks.

ENJOY...

Everyone has heard the sayings, adages, proverbs about studying things. Certain methodologies over time have produced acceptable results and have become a de-facto standard. Other methods, not so much so. The "studying" of methods has caused a certain proverb to remain highly visible over the years. That proverb is frequently quoted as a "wise" saying and a more or less "universal truth".

"Practice makes perfect"

However, that proverb fails to consider the possibility that the individual 'practicing' may not be replicating the method or process exactly.

Hence the corollary came into usage. I would contend that it is a more practical way to train, and produces infinitely better results.

"Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect."

Ran across this in a Jack Reacher novel. There are many variations on this theme, but they're seldom seen in a published manuscript. The Reacher novels have an almost cult-like following. Lee Child has written many of them (25 +) and recently has started co-writing with Andrew Child. Andrew, interestingly enough, is Lee Child's younger brother. Born Andrew Grant, he writes under the pseudonym "Andrew Child".

So the "saying" involved relates directly to "learn from your mistakes" or "experience is the best teacher" ..... In this case, the learning point involves Reacher moving into a sequence of events that appear to be a trap.

This is how it's written....

"It's a trap. It's obvious. How can it not be?"

"...yes, it's almost certainly a trap." "But sometimes the only way to know if the stove is hot, is to touch it."

Proverbs have a long history. Many of them stretch back to Chinese Dynasty origins. There are others that are more 'modern' but still sound like ancient and wise sayings.  Here are a couple that speak to knowledge and wisdom..

"He who knows and knows that he knows, is a wise man. Follow him."  

AND

"He is the only one who knows as much as he thinks he does." 

 --- I am not sure about the truth in these,  but I'm certain about the intent.  It's an important distinction because proverbs are held as being a 'universal truth'. After all, they're proverbs for a reason ... even if we don't agree with them.

A quick aside here.... Betty White was one of the funniest women ever to tell a joke (IMNSHO). The fact that a lot of her material was self-deprecating made it funnier because you could imagine her doing those things.

Here are a few of Betty White's one-liners:


“My mother always used to say: The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.”

"Why do people say, 'Grow some balls'? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding."

"Get at least eight hours of beauty sleep a night; nine if you're ugly."

"You can lie to anyone in the world and even get away with it, perhaps, but when you are alone and look into your own eyes in the mirror, you can't sidestep the truth. Always be sure you can meet those eyes directly."


RIP, Betty White...

A quick aside here.... Betty White was one of the funniest women ever to tell a joke (IMNSHO). The fact that a lot of her material was self-deprecating made it funnier because you could imagine her doing those things.

Here are a few of Betty White's one-liners:


“My mother always used to say: The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.”

"Why do people say, 'Grow some balls'? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding."

"Get at least eight hours of beauty sleep a night; nine if you're ugly."

"You can lie to anyone in the world and even get away with it, perhaps, but when you are alone and look into your own eyes in the mirror, you can't sidestep the truth. Always be sure you can meet those eyes directly."


RIP, Betty White...

Love those!

Here are a few more Betty White "isms". 

"Everybody needs a passion. That's what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints."

“I not only knew Houdini, but we had a very lovely relationship … I really thought we had something going, and then the son of a gun disappeared.”

"People have told me ‘Betty, Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with old friends.’ At my age, if I wanted to keep in touch with old friends, I’d need an Ouija board. "


Betty White passed on December 31st, 2021. She was 99 .... just a couple of weeks from her 100th birthday. 

A man facing a suspected enemy with a big mouth....  "Have at it. Take your best shot."  "The only thing stopping you is fear or better judgement..... And I know you aren't scared."


A man talking to a friend about an acquaintance who was arrested for punching his wife.  "That man is lower than whale shit. And we both know there ain't NOTHING lower than whale shit."

Here's a couple of true southern sayings to make your day...

"He looked like he'd been ridden hard and put away wet".  
It's been around for awhile. But whomever they were speaking about must have been a ragged misfit.!!


"That's about as useful as a trap door on a canoe".  
I guess it was a waste of time, whatever it was.!!


"Slicker than snot on a doorknob".
I've seen this one used several times to describe the 'feel' of boiled okra.  And I have to agree.!!

Here is a couple of sayings or adages from that same book ...

...her lover had a life expectancy approximately that of the mate to a female praying mantis.


...he was three wheels short of being a fully functioning four-wheel-drive intellect.