Know any adages or old sayings that are just not true? (Part 2)

[red dog 1]

Adages or old sayings that are just not true - Part 1
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181096541

[Sanity Claws]

1. It takes one to know one.

That popped up in my head after reading that Trump is an asshole.
I'm not an asshole but I can tell that Trump is one.

[Ilsa]

2. That one popped into my head first, also!

"It all happens for a reason," and "God never gives you more than you can bear" are two that are almost fightin' words!

[Aristus]

3. "The Exception Proves The Rule".

No it doesn't. The exception disproves the rule.

Stupidest saying ever...

[wryter2000]

4. That's mine

Drives me nuts.

[sl8]

7. I've always understood it to mean that an exception proves the existence of a rule.

From Wikipedia, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule :

...
"The exception proves the rule" is a saying whose meaning has been interpreted or misinterpreted in various ways. Its true definition, or at least original meaning, is that the presence of an exception applying to a specific case establishes ("proves" ) that a general rule exists. For example, a sign that says "parking prohibited on Sundays" (the exception) "proves" that parking is allowed on the other six days of the week (the rule). A more explicit phrasing might be "the exception that proves the existence of the rule."

An alternative explanation often encountered is that the word "prove" is used in the archaic sense of "test".[1] Thus, the saying does not mean that an exception demonstrates a rule to be true or to exist, but that it tests the rule. In this sense, it is usually used when an exception to a rule has been identified:[clarification needed] for example, Mutillidae are wasps without wings which cannot fly, and therefore are an exception that proves (tests) the rule that wasps fly. The explanation that "proves" really means "tests" is, however, considered false by some sources.[2][3]
...

More at link.


From The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, p. 138 :
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=z_VmtjAU01YC&pg=PA138

[Aristus]

9. I like that explanation.

That makes a lot of sense. The usual manner in which people use the saying does not.

[RobinA]

15. Thanks For That

I could never figure out WHAT the hell it meant.

[red dog 1]

5. It's always darkest before the dawn

This implies that it's always darkest RIGHT before the dawn, or IMMEDIATELY before the dawn, which is untrue.

It's actually "twilight" before the dawn, so it's not "darkest before the dawn"


"Twilight", as defined by Merriam-Webster:

"The light from the sky between full night and sunrise or between sunset and full night produced by diffusion of sunlight through the atmosphere and it's dust."

[MarcA]

6. I had a broken leg and thought it was bad until I saw a man w/no legs.

Like many(most?) of the sayings here and in Part 1, they are bromides
used by the oligarchs to keep order over the peasants. I mean really, think
about it.

[Paladin]

8. "It is what it is."

Should actually be "It is what it isn't."

[Wounded Bear]

10. The proof is in the pudding....

NO, NO, NO!!!!

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

There, I said it.

[dhol82]

26. This actually goes back to pudding being a cake and yeast needing to be proofed

Always found that interesting.

[frogmarch]

11. Spare the rod and spoil the child

I didn't beat or even spank any of my three children, and they turned out fine.

[Wolf Frankula]

17. It's 'Spare the rod and stay out of jail'

in a lot of places.

Wolf

[earthshine]

12. Trickle-down economic theory nt

[BlueTsunami2018]

13. What goes around comes around.

All the karma bullshit. There’s no such thing as karma. Dick Cheney is undead proof.

[Grasswire2]

14. Many years ago I decided that virtue was NOT its own reward.

.....having lived a virtuous youthful life and eventually seeing that other people were having more fun.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. "Practice makes perfect"

No, no it doesn’t

PERFECT practice makes perfect.

Screwed up practice makes it screwed up

[Generic Brad]

18. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

It doesn't work if you welcome unsolicited sexual advances.

[red dog 1]

20. If you welcome unsolicited sexual advances, you have to expect what might result from that/

But, imo, that has little or nothing to do with the "Golden Rule"

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is good advice, [in my humble opinion]

[keithbvadu2]

27. Baby Blues cartoon strip... daughter - Do unto brothers before...

[Alpeduez21]

19. Blood is thicker than water

While literally true. It is NOT true that family won't screw you over more than strangers.

Hair of the dog that bit you. Ummm, now I am hungover and drunk.

[skypilot]

21. The customer is always right.

Uh...no.

[red dog 1]

22. Well, that's not really an "adage" or "old saying"

It's more of an "employee rule" isn't it?

[Wolf Frankula]

32. It was invented by an executive at Selfridges Department Store

in London. He never dealt with customers, his 10 bob a week clerks had to do that. In my experience, 'the customer is usually wrong, and often idiotically so.'

Wolf

[red dog 1]

33. Interesting!

I never worked in a store, so I never had to deal with customers.

However, I did have jobs where I had to deal with people over the phone, and sometimes they were not too "polite" or friendly.

The only time I ever worked for a boss who thought "The customer is always right" was when I worked as a meter reader for a large Northern CA utility company, and had to go inside a house to get to the back yard, but the old woman had a very small dog who was barking ferociously at me, bur she said "Oh, don't worry, he won't bite!"
Well, she was wrong!
The little bastard bit me TWICE...on the lower part of both my legs, just above the ankles.

I left immediately, drove to the nearest pay phone & called the office to tell them that I got bit.
My asshole boss told me to "go back and apologize to the lady"
I ignored his command and instead I immediately went to get a Tetanus shot.

[red dog 1]

23. "Flattery will get you nowhere"

[sl8]

24. Wal-Mart sells anal bleach for $24.00

[red dog 1]

25. Is that an 'adage' or an 'old saying'?

[sl8]

29. From Chaucer, if I'm not mistaken. :)

[red dog 1]

34. I didn't know Chaucer shopped at Walmart.

[sl8]

35. Yeah, they don't teach you that at yer fancy-pants liberal arts colleges.

It's something what you pick up on the street.

[red dog 1]

36. "it's something what you pick up on the street"?

Like dog shit?

[montana_hazeleyes]

28. It shouldn't be this way but,

the old saying " Looks don't matter" in many instances is just not true.

[3catwoman3]

30. "It takes all kinds."

I can think of several "kinds" we would do just fine wthout.

[enid602]

31. Grandmother

My grandmother had two sayings that were ALWAYS true.


True contentment comes from knowing that absolutely everything invariably turns out just exactly the way you always knew it would.



It's always the Barbie and Ken types that end up shocking you the most.