Proverbial Wisdom

Proverbs are little sayings that give us advice on how to live our lives. One thing is certain, and that is us Brits, like many other cultures, love them!! There are proverbs to use in almost any circumstances. Most of us use these sayings frequently, without even thinking about their meanings. We were brought up with them; our parents used them, and their parents before that, and so on, for so many generations that they are now just part of everyday life. 

So, for example, if a friend buys something very extravagant we may find ourselves saying “a fool and his money are easily parted”, meaning that a foolish person will squander money without any thought of tomorrow.  If we are thinking of making a big change in our life, maybe we are fed up with our boss and decide to look for a new job, we may well be advised that it’s “better the devil you know, than the one you don’t know”. This suggests that it is better to deal with someone who, although may be difficult, is familiar, rather than risking a change and ending up dealing with someone far more troublesome. On the same lines we often hear “out of the frying pan into the fire”, again suggesting that if we leap into a decision without due care and consideration we may find that we have gone from one bad situation to another which is much worse! “Look before you leap” again favours caution, but what about “he who hesitates is lost”? This seems to be the green light to go for it – whatever “it” may be! 

So, what should we do if these proverbs offer conflicting advice? And yes, there are lots of them. We all know that it is no use worrying what the future holds because “what will be, will be”; but we have also heard “life is what you make of it”. We know that “two heads are better than one”, meaning when we discuss things and get input from others we are most likely to find a better solution, but then again we are also familiar with “if you want something done right, do it yourself”!  

Of course, we are taught from a young age that it is “better to be safe than to be sorry” but also “nothing ventured, nothing gained” – more conflicting advice! How about setting about changing things we don’t agree with. On one hand “actions speak louder than words”, but then again “the pen is mightier than the sword”. So, is direct action the way forward, or should we think petitions and speeches? One of my favourites proverbs is “birds of a feather stick together”, suggesting that we seek the company of people who think and act in a similar way to ourselves, but weigh this against “opposites attract” meaning that we are drawn towards people who are completely different from ourselves.

We could go on and on looking at proverbs and conflicting proverbs. We all know them, and, as a wise old owl I believe there is some truth in each and every one of them. Think of the saying “out of the mouths of babes” which suggests that children can make remarks and comments that are very true and wise beyond their years. This is certainly true; often children will say something that shows an amazing amount of insight. Then again I would not argue with “with age comes wisdom” as experience teaches us a lot. To me proverbs are fun and contain an element of truth, we all know them and use them often. However, we cannot rely on them for answers to every situation. We need to do what we think is best for ourselves and our families.....and if we look hard enough I’m sure we will find a proverb that agrees with our actions!                 

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Fun Facts About English

So it’s the weekend and time for a bit of fun and relaxation. I thought this would be the perfect time to look at some interesting facts about the English language. Do you need to know these things? Probably not; but they are great to throw in as quiz questions, or simply to amaze your friends with your knowledge!

Let's start with a nice simple one, what is the shortest complete sentence in English? Go on, think about it. Have you got any ideas? For those who are thinking “I am”, that's not a bad guess but there is something even shorter. Give up? Okay, I'll tell you “Go”! Well done to anyone who got the correct answer before I gave it away. Now can you think of words that rhyme with any of the following: month, orange, silver or purple? Take five minutes and think hard. Okay so have you thought of any? No? That's because there aren't any! Of the thousands and thousands of words in the English language these words have no rhyming partners.

 

 

I think you may enjoy the following little snippet of information. “Therein” is a simple little seven letter word, but it contains within it thirteen words that can be written using consecutive letters. Don't believe me – well here we go with a list of them:

1. the
2. he
3. her
4. er
5. here
6. I
7. there
8. ere
9. rein
10. re
11. in
12. therein
13. herein

Changing the subject completely, how do you like geography? Have you ever noticed that each of the seven continents all start and end with the same letter? Let's take a look; we have Africa, America (North), America (South), Antarctica, Asia, Australia and Europe. What a coincidence!  Looking at the alphabet, “almost” is the longest, most commonly used word with all the letters in alphabetical order. There is actually a longer word “aegilops” - which is a type of grass, more generally known as goat grass, but as most people would be unfamiliar with this term, I think it's fair to stick with almost.

 

Just a few more quirky facts for you. The word four is the only number which has the same number of letters as its value. Bookkeeper and bookkeeping are the only English words with three consecutive double letters, and “rhythms” is the longest word in English without a single vowel. Finally, and perhaps most surprisingly, the word “set” has more definitions than any other word.  Just check it out in the dictionary – I'm sure you will be amazed!           

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All That Cutlery - What To Do With It All

As November moves on, many people are turning their thoughts to Christmas. Across Europe and much of the rest of the world, Christmas is the biggest family celebration of the year. Even in countries that are not predominantly Christian, Christmas is fast becoming a time of celebration, of sharing gifts and of meeting family and friends. One of the great traditions of Christmas is the family dinner, either at home or in a restaurant. For the uninitiated, the array of cutlery, crockery and glassware laid out at this kind of meal can be quite intimidating. Even more frightening, if you are hosting such a meal, is the thought of laying out the place settings correctly. However, fear not! Here follows our guide to the etiquette of tableware!

As with most formal etiquette, there are a number of rules to be followed. Don't worry too much about these, as in fact they make the job of laying the table much easier to remember. Let's start with how to lay out and use the cutlery needed for a multi-course meal. The first rule is that the flatwear sits on the right of the plate, and the forks on the left. Flatwear is just a collective way of saying knives and spoons. This is a good starting point, but how do you know which knife, fork or spoon to use for each course? When I was a child I was told “start from the outside and work inwards”, and this rule is very true. The place setting should be laid out so that the cutlery on the outside is the first to be used. If the first course of your meal is soup, a soup spoon should be placed on the far right of the cutlery. The complete layout will depend on they number of courses that are being served, and what each course contains. As an example, if the meal is to be soup, followed by a fish course, followed by a meat course, then the cutlery should be set out thus: on the right hand side of the place will be a soup spoon on the outside, next in will be a fish knife, and finally, closest to the plate will be a meat knife. On the left hand side of the plate, the outside will be a fish fork, and the inside will be the main course fork.

The observant among you will have noticed that I have not mentioned cutlery for eating dessert, the most important part of any meal! This is because the dessert cutlery is placed above the place setting. Dessert cutlery is usually a dessert spoon and a dessert fork; the spoon is placed above the fork, and the handle of the spoon is to the right, whereas the handle of the fork is to the left. In case you are wondering about the difference between a dessert spoon and a soup spoon, a soup spoon is always rounded, whereas a dessert spoon is more oval in shape.

So that is where the cutlery goes. Simple isn't it! What else do you need for a perfect place setting? Usually, above the plate and to the left of the dessert cutlery there will be a side plate. This is to be used for bread if you are serving soup. It is also where the host will place a napkin before the meal (unless the host is very artistic and can arrange the napkin in a fancy shape, when it is permitted for this to be placed in the centre of the setting!). Finally there are the drinks' glasses to consider. Whether you are serving wine, water or juices, the glasses will be placed above the plate and to the right hand side of the dessert cutlery.

Now you are ready to face a formal meal, confident that you know where everything goes, and which knives, forks and spoons to use to eat whatever food is served. Enjoy your meal, bon appetite!

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Let's Try Some Good Manners

Are good manners important? Well we could have the quickest blog ever, say yes and be done with it; but I thought we may have a look at what we mean by “good manners” and how they can improve day to day life for everyone! For me, good manners are a way to show respect for others, whether it be friends, family, or a stranger we have just met. There is an argument to suggest that on a much broader level, the concept of care and consideration can help worldwide cooperation, and working together for the good of the planet. Wow that is really something to think about!

So, what are we really talking about? Well the obvious place to start is with saying please and thank you. Hardly world shattering, but these two little words can make such a difference. Also, how about “excuse me” instead of barging past someone, in the street, supermarket, office – wherever? We are all busy people, and sometimes rushing around, but let’s remember to think about others too.

One of my pet hates is people who try and queue jump, why do they do that? Nobody wants to stand waiting to pay for their groceries in a shop, but what makes some people think they can push in front of others and refuse to take their turn. The same thing applies on public transport, have you ever noticed how when the bus turns up there are people who are willing to push and bully their way to the front of the queue, with no thought for anyone else. There is room on the bus, the bus will not pull off and begin the journey until everyone is on board, so why do they do it? Wouldn’t life be so much nicer if we all thought about our companions? Let’s make sure that the people who get on the bus first are those who may need a little help. Perhaps the elderly gentleman who is not as firm on his feet as he once was, or the mother with a baby in a pushchair, let’s get them on safely first and then the rest of us can board without a fuss.

I was brought up in an era where good manners and helping others was considered the “norm”. Somewhere, along the way we seem to have lost that. Maybe it is the age we now live in. Politically, there were certainly some changes in the 1980’s. Margaret Thatcher, (Prime Minister 1979 – 1990), was focused for the rights of individuals. She made a speech in 1987 stating “They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families.” But of course there is such a thing as society, it’s me and you and all the people around us. It is being an active part of society that helps us live by certain rules, like not dropping litter on our streets or in our parks – yes they are ours, they belong to all of us and we should all take a pride in keeping them in good condition for everyone to enjoy. If there is no society what have we got?

Basically, good manners are all about thinking of others. I heard an argument a couple of years ago that a man holding a door open for a woman was sexist. Well let’s not talk about a man or a woman, let’s talk about people. I think that a person holding a door open for another person is a lovely gesture. We should all be doing it! If, you are a bit worried about causing offence, you could always ask “would you like me to open the door for you?” I really don’t think that anyone can be offended by such a kind offer. This consideration should flow into all aspects of our lives. At work, home, or out enjoying ourselves – let’s be kind to each other. Even on the drive to or from work we can show consideration. Is there really any need for drivers to drive so close to the car in front or to blow their horns quite so often?

As a general rule to manners I would suggest if you wouldn’t say it or do it in front of your grandparents – then don’t say it or do it in front of anyone else! If we all treat other people with respect, and value our individual differences as well as our likenesses, maybe we can change things for the better. Come on let’s make good manners fashionable again!   

Take a look at the clip below, from 1953. Good manners haven't changed, even if we are less patronising these days!  

Don’t forget, if you need help with correct written English, visit our website www.writtenenglishcorrected.com, and don’t forget to follow us on facebook and Twitter. 

November Special Offer

We hope you enjoy reading our blog posts, as much as we enjoy writing them.

Our blog is a free service to provide useful information about the English language and British customs in an entertaining and, hopefully, thought provoking way. We will continue to post articles in this vein, and if there is anything you would particularly like us to write about, please get in touch. We will see what we can do to help.

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