English For All: American Proverbs (T / U / V)

American Proverbs (T / U / V)

Proverbs are popularly defined as short expressions of popular wisdom. Efforts to improve on the popular definition have not led to a more precise definition. The wisdom is in the form of a general observation about the world or a bit of advice, sometimes more nearly an attitude toward a situation.

T

Talk is cheap.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
The best way to get someone to stop digging his heels in is to dig out the sand around him.
- The best way to deal with a stubborn person, is to take away his reasons for being stubborn.
The cream rises to the top.
- Outperform your peers, and you'll go further in life.
The early bird gets the worm.
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
- There are situations in which it is better not to be the first.
The fastest way to make money is to stop losing it.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
- We tend to want the opposite of what we have, while those who have the opposite want what you have.
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
The pen is mightier than the sword.
The pot calling the kettle black.
- A rebuke to someone who is criticizing flaws in others that they themselves have.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
The spouting whale is harpooned.
The straw that broke the camel's back.
- There comes a point when just a little more pressure will cause one to fail.
The tongue is the enemy of the neck.
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
- No one offers something without expecting something in return. (This proverb or its acronym "TANSTAAFL" are often attributed to the author Robert A. Heinlein who used them in his novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), but the expression has been dated to the late 1930s, and the acronym to at least as early as October 1949. Another common variant is: There's no such thing as a free lunch.)
There's no place like home. - Dorothy, in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.
There's more than one way to skin a cat.
- There's more than one way to do something.
There's plenty of fish in the sea.
- There are plenty of men or women to choose from, in regard to marriage.
Time flies when you're having fun.
- Time passes quickly when you're enjoying yourself.
Time shall tell.
There are no shortcuts to life's greatest achievements.
To each his own.
- Variant: Different strokes for different folks.
- Meaning: Different people have different preferences.
There is nothing as powerful as truth.
Two heads are better than one.
Two's company, three's a crowd.