English Language Sayings And Proverbs: Part 2

 

As I explained in part 1 of this blog post- native speakers are always using some form of saying or proverb. They are also often used in writing and in presentations. Although when giving a presentation one ……should consider who the audience is. For example in presentations given to international audiences one must take into consideration cultural differences, a saying’s meaning may not mean the same to, say, a Japanese audience. Or at least it may simply be misunderstood especially if the proverb is meant to convey some humour. Humour from one culture to another is often times quite unique so a simple joke may be taken in the wrong way or met with dead silence, when the speaker was hoping for some laughter. So as the saying goes ” forewarned is to be forearmed”….in other words-Know your audience!

Here are some more commonly used sayings and proverbs from the English language:

forwarned is to be forearmed if you know about problems, dangers, etc. before they happen, you can be better prepared for them

all that glistens is not gold not everything that seems good, attractive, etc. is actually good, etc

money doesn’t grow on trees used to tell somebody not to use something or spend money carelessly because you don’t have a lot of it

hope springs eternal people never stop hoping

ignorance is bliss if you don’t know about something you cannot worry about it

you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink you can give somebody the opportunity to do something, but you can’t force them to do it if they don’t want to

don’t judge a book by it’s cover used to say that you should not form an opinion about somebody or something from their appearance only

 

 

he who laughs last laughs longest used to tell somebody not to be proud of their present success; in the end another person may be more successful

where there’s life (, there’s hope) in a bad situation you must not give up hope because there there is always a chance that it will  improve   

the lights are on but nobody’s home used to describe somebody who is stupid, not thinking clearly or not paying attention

live and let live used to say that you should accept other people’s opinions and behaviour even though they are different from your own

love is blind when you love someone, you cannot see their faults

money talks people who have a lot of money have more power and influence than others…….. ( how things are these days)

no news is good news if there were bad news we would hear about it, so as we have heard nothing, it is likely that nothing bad has happened

no pain no gain used to say that you need to suffer if you want to achieve something… you have to work really hard

practice makes perfect a way of encouraging people by telling them that if you do an activity regularly and try to improve your skill, you will  be very good at it

OK I will end this blog post on the meaning of the last saying- practice makes perfect, so keep practicing your English language learning, regularly try to improve your skills in speaking English and surely you will become perfect………..

So good luck with your English language learning

Simon

Ok English

 

 

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