# Clichés you often hear that aren't true **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462 "2009-06-02T05:57:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/41 "2009-06-02T21:47:25Z")
> [@Early\_Out](#): > > “The customer is always right.” No, sometimes the customer is a raving loony, making demands that would bankrupt you. Are you familiar with [Not Always Right](http://www.notalwaysright.com)? > [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > “You can’t cheat an honest man.” Tell that to Elie Wiesel and other victims of Bernie Madoff. No offense to Mr. Wiesel, but if he was paying any attention at all to his finances, he would have realized that he could not possibly have been getting such a rate of return honestly. Cupidity is the root of almost all cons. > [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > The squeaky wheel gets the grease _vs._ the tallest poppy gets mown down I’ve always been a fan of the Japanese version of the latter, 出る杭は打たれる (_Deru kugi wa utareru_). “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” When I was slogging through the last month or so of my tenure at the Worst Job Ever, I wrote it out on a notecard and stuck it on the wall of my cube where I could look at it to remind myself to keep my mouth shut, figuring that no one else would be able to read Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/42 "2009-06-02T21:49:01Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > I remember in college one of my philosophy professors once said, “For every cliche, there exists a cliche that is the opposite.” > > True? ‘Look before you leap’ vs. ‘He who hesitates is lost’ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/43 "2009-06-02T21:58:32Z")
I think some of you don’t understand the “cliches” you’re trying to “debunk”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/44 "2009-06-02T22:03:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’ve always been a fan of the Japanese version of the latter, 出る杭は打たれる (_Deru kugi wa utareru_). “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” Yes, I thought about using it, but my Australian boss used to say the poppy one, and I figured we have more Australians than Japanese onboard. Many hands make light work. vs. Too many cooks spoil the soup. I should start a new thread, instead of continuing the hijack of this one. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/45 "2009-06-02T22:25:41Z")
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/46 "2009-06-02T22:35:44Z")
> [@breezman](#): > > “Half the people are below average income/intelligence/height/whatever.” This is usually close to being correct, but it’s doesn’t always hold. One outlier can skew the mean (which is what “average” means in common usage) pretty badly. “Average” isn’t a mathematical term, so the definition isn’t precise anyway. It can refer to the mean, median, or the mode. [Cite](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/average). I would agree that the mean is probably most commonly what is meant by “average”, but if you say “average” when you are talking about the median, you would not be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/47 "2009-06-02T22:44:33Z")
“A watched pot never boils”. Of course it boils. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/48 "2009-06-02T23:03:09Z")
“Only God can judge me” is a common misconception in the legal system. Actually, judges can judge you too, hence the name. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/49 "2009-06-02T23:09:06Z")
“There is no such thing as a bad kid/dog, only bad parents/owners.” Bzzzt. There are loads of bad kids, and bad dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/50 "2009-06-02T23:41:13Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > “There is no such thing as a bad kid/dog, only bad parents/owners.” > > Bzzzt. There are loads of bad kids, and bad dogs. You really think a significant number of kids are born “bad”? God, I hope you aren’t a parent, and never become one. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/51 "2009-06-02T23:42:44Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > “A watched pot never boils”. > > Of course it boils. No clue why this post tickles me, but tickles me, it does. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/52 "2009-06-03T00:03:48Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > You really think a significant number of kids are born “bad”? God, I hope you aren’t a parent, and never become one. I wouldn’t say significant, but you’d be naive to think that it doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/53 "2009-06-03T00:11:25Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I wouldn’t say significant, but you’d be naive to think that it doesn’t happen. Very very very rarely in my life - maybe once or twice, have I looked at a situation and seen a “bad” kid with “good” parents, and just been perplexed and forced to considered that maybe the kid was just born that way. Even then there might be something going on behind the scenes that isn’t apparent up front. In the vast majority of cases, it’s blatantly obvious that the parents are fuckups. _Much_ more often I’ve seen fuckup parents refuse to acknowledge their horrible parenting skills and blame their kid for being born “bad”\*. Edit: \*which is just a monstrous thing to do to a kid, by the way, and probably becomes a self-fufilling prophecy more often than not. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/54 "2009-06-03T00:28:47Z")
“Live each day as if it were your last.” If I did that, it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/55 "2009-06-03T00:43:35Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > "I would agree that the mean is probably most commonly what is meant by “average”, but if you say “average” when you are talking about the median, you would not be wrong. True, but even if you are talking about the median (or the mode for that matter) the adage that “half are always below average” still does not hold. One way this can happen is when one value occurs much more frequently than the others. Here’s an odd example. Consider the number of arms people have. That distribution is going to have some 0s and 1s, a whole lot of 2s, and a very few larger numbers. The median and mode are both 2, the mean is slightly less. Half the people are not below any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/56 "2009-06-03T03:10:49Z")
> [@breezman](#): > > True, but even if you are talking about the median (or the mode for that matter) the adage that “half are always below average” still does not hold. One way this can happen is when one value occurs much more frequently than the others. > > Here’s an odd example. Consider the number of arms people have. That distribution is going to have some 0s and 1s, a whole lot of 2s, and a very few larger numbers. The median and mode are both 2, the mean is slightly less. Half the people are not below any of them. Point taken. Also I would like to contest the cliche that “Two heads are better than one”. I suspect many people born Siamese twins may disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/57 "2009-06-03T03:10:56Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > [Obligatory xkcd link](http://xkcd.com/357/) Is that true? Do flies really prefer vinegar? Oh, and **Lantern**? That is awesome. Go James Fallows! ETA: Okay, so frogs don’t normally stay put. But what if it’s sleeping? Will it notice or not? Anyone with a frog and a pot on hand willing to do an experiment? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/58 "2009-06-03T03:52:48Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Is that true? Do flies really prefer vinegar? Sounds like a job for the Mythbusters. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/59 "2009-06-03T08:12:13Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > “Live each day as if it were your last.” If I did that, it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I always took it to mean “start by inserting a catheter, taping electrodes to your nipples, using a bedpan and ringing for your nurse”. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462/60 "2009-06-03T10:27:35Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Sounds like a job for the Mythbusters. The way I’ve heard is that you need a fruity vinegar like apple cider or wine, because to them it smells like decaying fruit, their preferred target. Honey doesn’t have much of a smell, and certainly not like decay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-you-often-hear-that-arent-true/498462.md?page=4)