Well, Frank, where there's
smoke there's fire. Hi everyone, in this video we're going
to look at some very common English proverbs. A proverb
is a short statement that gives advice or expresses a belief that many people
think is true. Most expressions that are considered proverbs
have existed for quite a long time. Before we start, remember that you can
also follow me on social media, and if you're interested in
signing up for my free advanced English email lessons, you'll
find the link in the description. The first one is:
Beggars can't be choosers. A beggar is a poor person who
asks people for money or food, normally in the street. "Chooser" isn't
actually a very common word, but I think the meaning is quite obvious.
It's simply a person who chooses something. People say
this if they recognise that they need to accept something,
because it is the only option available to them. It's when somebody
isn't in a position to be fussy. For example, if somebody is really
desperate for a job, they might say:
The job isn't very well paid, but I accepted it because beggars
can't be choosers. Another example: This isn't my dream car,
but it's all I can afford, and beggars can't be choosers.
The second one is: The grass is always greener
on the other side of the fence. This is sometimes shortened to:
The grass is always greener on the other side. And most
of the time we shorten it even more and we just say:
The grass is always greener. This means that a different situation might seem better than the one
you're currently in, but it probably isn't better. And here's a visual representation.
This cow seems to think that the grass on the other side of the barbed wire
fence is better than the grass on its side. For example, you might say:
I wish I had Mary's job. She's always travelling so much.
And then someone could say to you: Yes, but her job's probably quite stressful and she may wish she had
a job similar to yours. The grass is always greener
The next one is: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Here "ain't" means "is not". Another thing to be aware of is that "broke" in this sentence is
grammatically incorrect. It should be "broken", but in this
proverb we always say "broke". So this sentence means: If it isn't broken,
don't fix it. This means that if something is working well,
there is no need to change it. For example, in a workplace
someone could say: Why is the new manager changing
everything? The old systems worked just fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I don't know about you, but I sometimes have this feeling with computer
programs or websites when they make unnecessary updates. Like Skype, for example. They keep changing things and it's annoying. And now we have:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This apparently comes from a Chinese proverb. I think
the meaning is quite obvious. It means that even big, overwhelming tasks have a starting point. It's often used to
encourage people who are afraid of starting something because
it's overwhelming. It's a bit like saying: You need to start somewhere. Or: Just start by doing something small. For example, if somebody wants
to learn a language and they're scared to start, you could say:
Well, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
You could start by watching YouTube videos for beginners,
or looking for a teacher, or learning some basic grammar.
I think you get the idea. This one is: People who live in glass houses
shouldn't throw stones. You can also say: People in glass houses
shouldn't throw stones. This basically means don't be a hypocrite.
In other words, you shouldn't criticise people
for having faults that you have or for doing things that you do.
Sometimes we shorten this and we just say something like:
Well, people in glass houses. Or we might say: You know what they say
about people in glass houses. For example, if Frank says that Ethel
was drinking too much at the party, I could say to him:
Well, Frank, you know what they say about people in glass houses.
The next one is: Practice make perfect. I think the meaning of this is pretty obvious. It simply means the more you practise something, the better you will get.
It doesn't mean you'll learn to do something
100% perfectly. For example, nobody, not even native speakers, speak a
language perfectly because everybody makes mistakes sometimes,
but generally speaking, if you practise something,
you will become better at it. If Frank is complaining because
he keeps falling off his skateboard, I could say: Well, Frank, practice
makes perfect. Or if George says that he finds it hard to ignore marketing
people in the street, I could say: Well, George,
practice makes perfect. George is a bit too polite sometimes.
And now we have: Time is money. This means that time is a valuable resource, so we shouldn't waste it.
People usually say it if they want somebody to hurry up,
particularly in a business context. For example,
if you're at work and you're mucking around with your colleagues,
your boss might come by and say: Come on, guys. Time is money. This one is: Two heads are better than one. This means that two people working together to solve a problem will be
more effective than one person working alone. For example,
if you're looking at a financial document and it's a bit
confusing, you might say to a family member: I don't really understand this. Could you
have a look at it with me? Two heads are better than one.
I think this statement's true. Except if it's a university group assignment. Then you should just do it yourself. The next one is: Waste not, want not. This one means that if you don't waste things, you will always have enough.
Here "want" actually means "lack". It's a little formal and old-fashioned to use "want" like this, but people
sometimes still use it that way. So this proverb means
if you're not wasteful, you won't lack things.
For example, you could say: I always save leftover
food for later because waste not, want not. Obviously
if you're not frequently throwing away food, you will save money.
It's also better for the environment. The next one is:
A watched pot never boils. This one is essentially
about impatience. You know how sometimes you
might put some water in a pot and then put it on the stove, and you
need to wait for the water to boil before you can put food in it?
So you stand there watching it and it seems to take forever?
Well, that's the idea in this proverb. It means that if you're
impatient for something to happen, it will seem to take longer. Something
that I think a lot of people can relate to is sending a message to somebody who you're interested in romantically.
You might then check your phone constantly to see if they've replied. If you're doing that, someone might
say to you: A watched pot never boils. This one is: Where there's smoke there's fire. This means that if something
bad is being said about something or someone, or if rumours
are being spread, there's probably an element of truth there.
It might not be entirely true, but it's probably partly true.
For example, if there's a rumour going around that Frank caused
some arguments in a bar and he says that none of it
happened, I could say: Well, Frank, where there's smoke there's fire. The last one is: You can lead a horse
to water, but you can't make it drink. This one means that you can give
somebody the opportunity to do something, but you can't force them
to do it if they don't want to. Normally we just say:
You can only lead a horse to water. Sometimes teachers think this
when they're in a classroom. For example, if you give your students very simple homework or if you make
suggestions on how they could perhaps improve their skills,
and then they don't do it, you could say: You can
only lead a horse to water. I hope you're not one of those students. Another example is if somebody hosts a party with food, and they
put out knives and forks, but then people like me just eat with their fingers, that person could say:
You can only lead a horse to water. I hope you found that helpful. I hope you learned something.
If you did, please hit the thumbs up. Let me know in the comments
if any of these proverbs exist in your language, or if there are any close equivalents. Thanks very much for
watching, guys. I'll see you next time.
