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Hela Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Proverbs

Dear teachers,

Would you please give me the meaning of the following proverbs ?

1) A good name is easier to lost than won.

2) Blood is thicker than water.

3) Tomorrow never comes. / Tomorrow never dies. (??)

4) Procrastination is the thief of time. =
What may be done at any time is done at no time. (?)

5) There is no time like the present. (is this a proverb?)

6) One of these days is none of these days.

7) It’s the pot calling the kettle black.

8) It’s dogged that does it.

9) Familiarity breeds contempt. = Respect is greater from a distance. (?)

10) Gain at the expense of reputation should be called loss.

I hope it wasn't too long...

Many thanks,
Hela
  

Top answer

-- Blood Is Thicker Than Water ( family relations are more important than all other relationships ... ) People in the same family are related by blood and "blood is thicker than water" says that family ("blood") relations are more important than relations with friends. " "Blood is thicker than water" compares the thickness of blood (family relationship) to the thickness of water (friendships) and says that our family relations are more important ("thicker") than all others.

— Mister Micawber

  • -- Blood Is Thicker Than Water ( family relations are more important than all other relationships ...
  • ) People in the same family are related by blood and "blood is thicker than water" says that family ("blood") relations are more important than relations with friends.
  • " "Blood is thicker than water" compares the thickness of blood (family relationship) to the thickness of water (friendships) and says that our family relations are more important ("thicker") than all others.
  • "
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22 Answers
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Did you try googling, Hela?--


Blood Is Thicker Than Water ( family relations are more important than all other relationships ... )
People in the same family are related by blood and "blood is thicker than water" says that family ("blood") relations are more important than relations with friends. Example: "When my best friend and my brother got in a fight I had to help my brothe
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I always thought "water" was the holy water sprinkled on the happy couple at the wedding. Hence, relationships through heredity are stronger than relationships through marriage. Given a choice between helping one's brother and one's brother-in-law, one helps one's brother.

CJ
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7) Both the pot and the kettle are black with soot and kitchen grease.
If I have the same fault that I accuse you of having, I'm the pot calling the kettle black.
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Thank you for your replies. Whenever you have time would you please tell me what the other proverbs mean?

Best regards,
Hela
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I am not familiar with some of them. As Mr. M suggests, you might try getting on to Google. I'll bet you could find out more about them that way.
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Hello Hela

MisterM's and CJ's advice is excellent.

Just a couple of things about the ones you've queried:

3) Tomorrow never comes - this is the right version. ('Tomorrow' is the word for the day after today: you never reach the day after today, because it's always 'today'. Thus tomorrow never comes.)

4) Procrastination is the thief of time. =
What may
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Hello again Hela

It occurred to me you might not know the best way to google for these phrases.

Go to:



Then, in the box called "with the exact phrase", type your search-text, e.g.

there's no time like the present

In the box called "with at least one of the words", type proverb

Then click on 'Google Search', and yo
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Thank you Mr Pedantic for your advice. I'll try that and I'll come back to you.

Would it be possible for you to tell me how I can get exercises in the form of PARAGRPHS and not sentences which would include a variety of tense combinations, modals, "fill in the blanks" with preposition, quantifiers, etc?

I have tried to find some through google by typing "online exer
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As 1) does not google well: I think it should read "A good name is easier lost than won." Meaning just what it says. Example: Mercedes is known to build quality cars. It has earned this good name over years by delivering quality cars and it was an effort to do so. However, lately there have been some call-ins (?do you so?), that is newly sold cars have been ordered to a repair service, because th
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Thank you very much for your help, eagle2l84 !

By the way are there still problems with the Mercedes cars? A relative of mine has just bought one, so I am eager to know if he has made the right choice or not!

I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Hela
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