# What's the stupidest adage you've ever heard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444 "2004-01-14T20:41:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SAustinTx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@SAustinTx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SAustinTx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/1 "2004-01-14T20:41:03Z")
I don’t care a whole lot for adages myself: they tend to oversimplify things and make catchier slogans than actual philosophical discourses. Many I’ve heard are just outright dumb and don’t stand up to even a moment’s reflection, yet they’ve survived down through the ages nonetheless. I’d like to hear the stupidest adage each of you have ever come across. I’m still brainstorming for mine, but for anyone who doesn’t know what an adage is, they’re the snappy sayings that are supposed to impart wisdom, such as: > [@](#): > > The early bird catches the worm ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Ventrella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@Mike\_Ventrella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Ventrella)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/2 "2004-01-14T21:44:32Z")
“Curiosity Killed the Cat” What exactly is this supposed to be teaching us? Don’t be curious? Never wonder about anything because it might \*kill \* you? Just be stupid? Can’t think of anything dumber than a piece of advice telling you to be stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/3 "2004-01-14T22:09:17Z")
In the meantime, “curiousity killed the cat” drives me up the wall, too. It comes in second after “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” though, because the people who spout it seem to be blithely unaware of the irony of the redacted version. (A little learning is a dangerous thing-- drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. Shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again. -Alexander Pope) Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/4 "2004-01-14T22:10:36Z")
“It is a wise crow that knows which way the camel points.” On secon thought, that may be a Pratchett™… On the subject of crows, though, there is an Icelandic adage that says “The crow flies late at night”. It can’t mean anything else, there’s no other way of translating it, I know what an adage is and it just doesn’t make any sense. There are more but I suppose you’re looking for something a little closer to home… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/5 "2004-01-14T22:15:06Z")
_Now_ I notice that there are spelling, grammar, _and_ punctuation errors in my post above. A trifecta! [size=1]Um, I meant to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/6 "2004-01-14T22:38:33Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It comes in second after “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” though, because the people who spout it seem to be blithely unaware of the irony of the redacted version. Heh, yeah, that reminds me of “great minds think alike” whenever two people think the same thought. (Leaving off, of course, “fools seldom differ”.) ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/7 "2004-01-14T22:50:45Z")
_Blood is thicker than water_ We all know what this means, but just read it again and you will realize that it is stupid. Hemingway wrote that the literal meaning is the real meaning, and when you lead an active life outdoors one day you’ll understand it. I like Hemingway’s take on it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/8 "2004-01-14T22:56:57Z")
The exception proves the rule. General Questions is for questions with factual answers. IMHO is for polls. I’ll move this to IMHO for you. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![CairaJade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@CairaJade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairaJade)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/9 "2004-01-14T23:00:56Z")
I agree with _blood is thicker than water_. Though I don’t necessarily disagree with the “wisdom” it is trying to impart, I find the phrase asinine. ---
**Author:** ![nikjoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/839c29/32.png) [@nikjoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikjoshi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/10 "2004-01-14T23:11:18Z")
“Well begun is half done”…whats that supposed to mean? does it mean that if u started out well, u`ll end up doin only half or if u started well, then thats only half of the work done? So equal weightage is given to a good beginning and the rest of the work??? :-s ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/11 "2004-01-14T23:11:37Z")
> [@Mike Ventrella](#): > > “Curiosity Killed the Cat” > > What exactly is this supposed to be teaching us? Don’t be curious? Never wonder about anything because it might \*kill \* you? Just be stupid? > > Can’t think of anything dumber than a piece of advice telling you to be stupid. I think this is more of a _warning_ than advice. I usually hear this when someone is prying into another’s affairs. Least favorite: “All happy families are happy alike, all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way.” Tolstoy I’ve alwasy thought this was silly; there are as many different ways to be haqppy as there are to be unhappy. I woudl actually argue that many unhappy people are unhappy by their own making and are therefore _more_ alike that the happy people. And while I’m thinking of Russians: “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” Kafka Really stupid. You have to go out and find the world or else you die sitting home alone in your recliner in front of the television, remote clutched in your hand, and no one notices until your neighbors are forced to call the police because of the smell. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/12 "2004-01-14T23:15:05Z")
It’s not exactly a proverb, but how about “Don’t respond and they’ll leave you alone.” What a load of BS that one is. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/13 "2004-01-14T23:16:16Z")
> [@nikjoshi](#): > > “Well begun is half done”…whats that supposed to mean? does it mean that if u started out well, u`ll end up doin only half or if u started well, then thats only half of the work done? So equal weightage is given to a good beginning and the rest of the work??? :-s I think this refers to how hard it is to _start_ something. Like when you need to write a paper. I find the hardest part is just forcing myself to sit down and turn on the computer. Once I’ve done that, the rest of the paper isn’t so bad. So it’s saying that by just _starting_ something, you’ve already passed the biggest hurdle. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/14 "2004-01-15T00:21:12Z")
“Everything happens for a reason.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/15 "2004-01-15T00:36:47Z")
“You see the glass as half empty. I see it as half full.” **They’re exactly the same, moron!** ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/16 "2004-01-15T00:37:21Z")
“If the shoe fits, wear it.” What the f does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/17 "2004-01-15T00:42:02Z")
Mah cousin Eephus onct ciphered 5 plus 2 and got 9. That thers the stupidest adage I ever heerd of. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/18 "2004-01-15T01:03:06Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > …the people who spout it seem to be blithely unaware of the irony of the redacted version. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Wrong. “_Under the rule of just men_, the pen is mightier than the sword.” ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/19 "2004-01-15T01:30:26Z")
“Time heals all wounds.” As if. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444/20 "2004-01-15T01:36:47Z")
Am I the only one who always answers “Curiosity killed the cat” with “and satisfaction brought him back”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-stupidest-adage-youve-ever-heard/224444.md?page=2)