Learn English from Proverbs

Today’s English
April 2nd, 2017

Proverbs are hidden treasures in nutshell and wisdom gifted by our ancestors. Your speech will be brief, direct, apt and effective if you use the right proverb in the right situation.  Here is a dialogue between two neighbours of whom one always replies in proverb. If you come across a new proverb, simply guess the meaning or browse online to decipher:

Neighbour 1 : My son has gone astray. He smokes, drinks, lies, steals and never listens to me.

Neighbour 2: A bad tree doesn’t yield good apples.

Neighbour 1 : Do you mean I am such a bad tree?

Neighbour 2: A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

Neighbour 1: Ok. I confess. What to do now?

Neighbour 2: A fault confessed is half redressed.

Neighbour 1: You know, no one has suffered like me in life.

Neighbour 2: A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor.

Neighbour 1: He’s always found with his bad friends. What to do?

Neighbour 2: Birds of a feather flock together.

Neighbour 1:  I’m thinking of sending him to a distant place. What do you say?

Neighbour 2: Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Neighbour 1: I have also decided not to give any pocket money.

Neighbour 2: An empty purse frightens away friends.

Neighbour 1: I hope, everything will be ok when he stays away from me.

Neighbour 2: Every rose has its thorn.

Neighbour 1: Like all fathers, I want my son have everything in life.  Is it wrong?

Neighbour 2 : Grasp all, lose all.

Neighbour 1: You are always speaking negatively. Do you think my wishes won’t happen?

Neighbour 2: If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.

Neighbour 1: Do you mean my son cannot be changed?

Neighbour 2: A leopard cannot change its spots.

Neighbour 1: Don’t speak like this. I love my son more than anything in the world.

Neighbour 2: Every man thinks his own geese swans.

Neighbour 1: I will kill you if you speak like this.

Neighbour 2: A barking dog seldom bites.
Neighbour 1: But I will do.  See the knife in my hand.

Neighbour 2: Look before you leap.
Neighbour 1: (chasing) Rascal you sound proverb even before death…

Neighbour 2: (running) To error is human, to forgive divine.

(You know, all methods to breathe English are good provided “The end justifies the means.”)