# Contradicting Proverbs: A Game
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 14, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513 "2005-07-14T15:17:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/1 "2005-07-14T15:17:41Z")
This idea came to me when my 20-month old son was put in his crib with his bottle of milk to go to sleep for the night. Normally, he just drinks his bottle and falls asleep. About a month ago, he started crying. I went in and found that there must’ve been a hole somewhere and most of his milk had leaked out.
So I said him: “No use crying over spilled milk.”
But I thought, that’s not right, if he didn’t cry I wouldn’t have given him a new bottle. So the correct proverb would be:
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
But that proverb wouldn’t work for other scenarios.
So the game is to use the previous proverb, currently “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”, and then describe a situation in which the proverb is incorrect, and then state the more appropriate proverb.
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### Author:  [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/2 "2005-07-14T15:21:58Z")
Someone complains about their working conditions and demands a raise. They get fired. Clearly, the squeaky wheel did not get the grease.
“The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.”
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### Author:  [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/3 "2005-07-14T15:29:27Z")
“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“You can judge a monk by his robes.”
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/4 "2005-07-14T15:35:12Z")
Look before you leap.
Unless you’re in a high-pressure situation in which making the correct decision instantly is critical, in which case _He who hesitates is lost._
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### Author:  [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/5 "2005-07-14T15:50:24Z")
Maybe I was not clear enough. You should use the previous poster’s last proverb, find a situation where it would clearly be wrong, and then state the appropriate proverb.
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### Author:  [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/6 "2005-07-14T16:04:02Z")
Sorry.
Is there a proverb about reading isntructions?
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### Author:  [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/7 "2005-07-14T17:03:45Z")
Strike while the iron is hot.
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### Author:  [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/8 "2005-07-14T17:11:56Z")
Cold hammering is one way to make steel.
Haste makes waste…
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/9 "2005-07-14T17:25:14Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#):
>
> Cold hammering is one way to make steel.
> Haste makes waste…
…time is money!
That said: I’ve never heard _Cold hammering is one way to make steel_, and in fact, I don’t quite get what it is supposed to convey… Urgh?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/10 "2005-07-14T17:27:27Z")
There was a list of theswe in Ripley’s Believe it or Not, ages ago:
Great minds run in the same channerl
Fools think alike
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### Author:  [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradicting-proverbs-a-game/312513/11 "2005-07-14T18:29:20Z")
> [@robardin](#):
>
> That said: I’ve never heard _Cold hammering is one way to make steel_, and in fact, I don’t quite get what it is supposed to convey… Urgh?
From **Jacknifed** second post, take the previous proverb and give a situation where it is clearly wrong. It’s clearly wrong if you want to make steel by cold hammering iron.
I forgot to give the “appropriate” response, instead I gave “haste makes waste” for the next person to do.