Today I had the first phase of my Asperger’s Syndrone diagnosis. I was given some sections of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III test, and one question that really stuck out in my head was when I had to explain what the expression A shallow brook is noisy. The answer I gave, after hesitating was “something that seems so small and insignificant can still make itself seem big and important”. At the end of this test, I asked the psychologist what that actually means, and he said that he couldn’t tell me. I’m starting to wonder if the expression was just made up to see what kind of reaction it’d get, and most of the googling I did led to other pages reflecting on the WAIS III test. IS this a real expression, and if so, what does it actually mean?
I found a single reference on Google to a supposed Chinese proverb that says “Still waters run deep but shallow waters are noisy.”
So my WAG on this one is that yes, it is an actual expression but possibly it is one in another language besides English, and that it probably refers to the opposite of “still waters run deep.” Just a WAG, though, nothing official.
It sounds like a reversal of the classic saying: “Still waters run deep.”
Or as Seneca put it: Altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi. “The deepest rivers flow with the least sound.”
IOW, shallow people yak a lot.
I would just take the literal route. Shallow brooks have water pounding against the rocks on the bottom and they are indeed often noisy. Big rivers don’t usually make a sound unless they have waves.
I would take it as a metaphor: People who make the most noise generally don’t have much to say.
And by the way, still waters don’t run deep; they don’t run at all.
As a wild water paddler, I have to say that a shallow brook is not noisy.
Not true, very deep lakes have currents under them, they have at least some, given convection and sunlight on the surface of the water. That’s what the saying means. A placid seeming person might have a lot of strong feeling (currents) under the surface. A shallow brook, makes a lot of noise, but doesn’t have a lot of substance. Think Paris Hilton versus say, Eleanor Roosevelt. (First complex female I could come up with who had a rather humble demeanor but did a lot.)
Ditto for me. When I started to read the question my first thought was why, literally are they noisy. My mind started to wander around the fact that alot of the rocks come up though the surface so we hear the water hitting them and since the water is shallow there isn’t much sound insulation, and it’ll echo more against the banks since there’s more bank for it to echo against.
I guess I went the wrong way. But it’s still how I would have answered the question.
Having the test subject give the meaning of a few known proverbs is part of the Verbal portion of the WISC (The kiddie version of the test). From what I understand, it is supposed to test comprehension and the ability to decribe a concept that is not concrete. For example, I believe they also use “strike while the iron is hot” and “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Sometimes it is easy to know what something means, but it is tough to put into words what they mean.
BTW, Wikianswers says:
It’s a variation on an ancient Aramaic phrase:
אִסְתְרָא בִלְגינָא קיש קיש קָרְיָא
*Istra bilgina kish kish karya *
Literally, a single coin in an empty jar makes a big noise. By inference, a full jar is quiet when you shake it.
And similarly “Empty vessels make most sound”. A big empty jar is a nice resonator; fill it with grain or wine, and it’s damped out. Metaphorically, once again, those who make most noise are the ones with least to say.
Which is exactly how an Aspie would see it; one classical indicator is an inability to “get” metaphors. (I’m so like an Aspie it’s scary, but not in this instance.)
Well, I guess sometimes you have to know it’s a metaphor. One of the things I’ve done to remind single-language speakers with upcoming second-language presentations about their audience’s second-language-ness is throw a few Spanish metaphors at them. Amazing how fast people manage to drop the baseball references from their powerpoints after that!
Bless you. Really.
I bet that idea’s a hit!