# Let's have fun debunking those old sayings/proverbs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030 "2004-10-25T11:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/1 "2004-10-25T11:09:56Z")
“ **A watched pot never boils** ” Yes it does. I just watched a pot of water come to the boil on my oven. It took 4 minutes and 23 seconds. “ **An Englishman’s home is his castle** ” Not in my part of England. I have recently had to fill in the moat I dug around my home as I did not have the correct planning permission and I am due in court next week for pouring boiling oil from an upstairs window onto two Jehovahs Witnesses. “\*\* He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword\*\*” Tell that to Aldo Nadi, possible the greatest swordsman of modern times. Well, you can’t actually because he _died in his sleep_ in 1965 at the age of 66. “ **Two heads are better than one** ” If that’s the case, why do we go to all the trouble and expense of seperating cojoined twins? “ **Still waters run deep** ” Tell that to some of the patients at Stoke Mandiville spinal injuries hospital, who’s only crime was to dive in at the shallow end of a swimming pool! “ **What you don’t know can’t hurt you** ” I didn’t know there someone had puta mouse trap in my pocket one day last summer but that didn’t stop it hurting like hell when it caught my thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/2 "2004-10-25T12:07:05Z")
_Forwarned is forarmed._ No, forarmed is half an octopus. And I won’t settle for _half_ an octopus, unless rice & green tea are included. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/3 "2004-10-25T12:24:24Z")
“If the wind changes your face will stay like that” My face was like this before the wind! I blame my parents. ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/4 "2004-10-25T12:26:18Z")
**Nothing tastes as good as thin feels** Oh yeah? Then why am I fat? ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/5 "2004-10-25T12:41:53Z")
**You can’t have your cake and eat it too**. In front of me I have my slice of cheesecake. Now I eat it. Presto! ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/6 "2004-10-25T12:57:32Z")
**A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned**. I already _earned_ the damned thing. Saving it is just more aggravation without any payoff. It reminds me of my mother’s definition of “economical”: the way to spend money without enjoying it. Pfui. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/7 "2004-10-25T12:59:19Z")
Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. Even I know that this is impossible. Before they are hatched, they are eggs. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/8 "2004-10-25T13:11:35Z")
**All’s fair in love and war.** Haven’t heard of the Geneva Convention? **All roads lead to Rome.** Pendle Hill Rd doesn’t. I’ve driven it’s entire length. **Every family has a skeleton in the closet.** A thorough search of all my closets does not confirm this one I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/9 "2004-10-25T13:43:11Z")
“\*\* Beggars can’t be choosers\*\*” Beggars in London repeatedly choose to ignore my advise about getting a job and brushing their teeth by telling me to “fuck off”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/10 "2004-10-25T13:44:02Z")
> [@Catsmeow](#): > > **Nothing tastes as good as thin feels** My brother, who is very thin, and I, who am… not very thin, agree that my mother’s raspberry yogurt kuchen tastes as good as being thin feels. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/11 "2004-10-25T14:44:08Z")
**You get what you pay for.** Tell that to the millions of people who get taken by phishing and other scams! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/12 "2004-10-25T14:48:13Z")
**The pen is mightier than the sword.** Uhh, no dude, I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/13 "2004-10-25T15:27:44Z")
“ **Laugher is the best medicine** ” My Grandad has Parkinsons disease and we’ve been laughing at him for months but he hasn’t gotten any better. So much for that theory. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/14 "2004-10-25T16:33:06Z")
_A stitch in time saves nine._ What? How can you possibly stitch time? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/15 "2004-10-25T16:55:27Z")
Maybe so, but you’re screwed when someone young and treacherous comes around. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/16 "2004-10-25T17:16:18Z")
Old age is too damn slow for treachery to play into it. Give me someone with a sniper rifle over someone with a Goldberg machine any day. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/17 "2004-10-25T17:34:22Z")
**A fool and his money are soon parted.** See George W. Bush. **If you ly down with dogs you’ll get up with fleas** Not if you invest in a good flea collar. **Politics makes strange bedfellows** Well, two out of three aint bad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/18 "2004-10-25T17:53:25Z")
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush Not when said bird is forcing its talons into your hand ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/19 "2004-10-25T18:36:21Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > **You can’t have your cake and eat it too**. This is the one I’ve never understood. Who the hell wants a cake they can’t eat? ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030/20 "2004-10-25T18:36:25Z")
**"A woman’s work is never done**" Bollocks. Given proper supervision, my wife can sometimes finish her chores before 2 a.m. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-have-fun-debunking-those-old-sayings-proverbs/271030.md?page=2)