Proverbs, Sayings & Folk Wisdom: June 2, 2012
1. According to the proverb, how many stitches does ‘a stitch in time’ save?
Nine.
2. It’s believed that kissing the Blarney Stone will bring the kisser the gift of blarney, or persuasive
eloquence. In what country would you find this stone?
Ireland. The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village
of Blarney.
3. According to the proverb, what killed the cat?
Curiosity.
4. People believe the bride will be lucky if on her wedding day if she wears ‘something old,
something new’ and name at least two other things.
Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue, And a lucky
sixpence In her shoe.
5. Because of superstition, animal shelters sometimes have trouble adopting out cats that are
which color?
Black.
6. This animal spends a lot of time underground – maybe communicating with netherworld
spirits, it’s born with its eyes open (indicating wisdom), and it’s very fertile. Some carry its
foot in their pocket for luck.
Rabbit. Rabbit’s foot.
7. According to the proverb, what will the mice do when the cat is away?
When the cat’s away, the mice will play.
8. According to the saying, one man’s trash is another man’s what?
Treasure. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
9. According to the saying, what kind of fruit should you eat everyday to keep the doctor
away?
An apple. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
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10. It’s said that: Monday’s child is fair of face; Tuesday’s child is full of grace … What is said
about Saturday’s child?
Monday's child is fair of face; Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe; Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving; Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day is fair and wise, good and gay.
11. Written in 1927, the song ‘I’m looking over a four-leaf clover’ was popularized in 1948 by
Art Mooney. ‘One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain …’ What is the third leaf?
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover That I overlooked before.
One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain,
Third is the roses that grow in the lane.
No need explaining, the one remaining Is somebody I adore.
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover That I overlooked before.
12. Our 7th manned mission to the moon became a near disaster when an oxygen tank
exploded and the spacecraft had to return to earth. Perhaps this mission was doomed to
because of its name. What was the name of this ill-fated space mission?
Apollo 13. (Movie, Tom Hanks)
13. Don’t pull out that gray hair! According to folk wisdom, this many more will grow in its
place!
10. This is relevant to almost all of you.
14. Hung over a doorway, this equine accessory is believed to bring good luck.
Horseshoe. In most of Europe, they hang it face down. In some parts of Ireland and Britain,
they turn it upward or the luck will run out.
15. Don’t break one of these or superstition says you will have 7 years of bad luck!
Mirror.
16. Many believe it is unlucky to wear this precious stone, the national gemstone of
Australia which produces 97% of the world’s supply, unless it’s your October birthstone.
Opal. This opaque to semi-transparent mineraloid stone, with a high water content is popular
in precious jewelry because if flashes a variety of colors.
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17. The furcula ( which means "little fork" in Latin) is a bone formed by the fusion of the
two clavicles. What’s the popular name for this bone that two will split for luck after
Thanksgiving Dinner.
Wishbone. Clavicle, collarbone. Found in birds and some other animals
18. According to the saying, how much is a bird in the hand worth?
Two in the bush. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
19. If given as a gift, what animal should you not look in the mouth?
A horse. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. (b/c you can tell its age, thus judge it)
20. In Shakespeare’s Richard III, King Richard is in battle in desperate need of a horse. He
says he would exchange WHAT for ‘a horse’.
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
21. In Hamlet, Polonius offers his son words of wisdom before he goes off to school in Paris,
counseling him, ‘Neither a BLANK nor a BLANK be …’ Fill in the blanks.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
LORD POLONIUS: Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both
itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
Husbandry: care, cultivation and breeding of crops and animals.
Son = Laertes
22. In the Bible, Proverbs 26:11 we learn that a fool returneth to his folly as dog
returneth to WHAT.
His vomit. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Bible Proverbs 26:11
23. According to the proverb, what can beggars not be?
Choosers. Beggars can’t be choosers.
24. Hamlet addresses the inevitable, when he offers:
Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and WHICH ANIMAL will have
his day.
Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his
day.
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25. According to the proverb, it is better to have half of ONE OF THESE than
none.
Half a loaf is better than none.
26. Don’t do your work quickly. According to the proverb, what is the consequence of
‘haste’?
Waste. Haste makes waste.
27. According to the proverb, if you ‘spare the rod’, what will happen?
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall
not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Bible - Proverbs 23:13-14.
28. According to the saying, ‘If horses were wishes, WHO would get to ride?
If horses were wishes, beggars would ride.
29. According to the proverb. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Similarly, you should not kill which goose?
The goose that lays the golden eggs. Kill not the goose that lays the
golden eggs.
30. According to the proverb, what kind of animal should you let lie?
Let sleeping dogs lie.
31. Stay away from those mobsters or you may end up‘sleeping with the fishes’.
According to the proverb, if you sleep with dogs, what will you wake up with?
Fleas. Sleep with dogs, wake up with fleas.
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32. According to the proverb, what should you do ‘while the sun shines’?
Make hay. Make hay while the sun shines.
33. According to the proverb, what is the ‘mother of invention’?
Necessity. Necessity is the mother of invention.
34. According to the proverb, what can the leopard not change?
Its spots. A leopard cannot change its spots.
35. A proverb tells us to be patient, because which city was not built in a day?
Rome. Rome was not built in a day.
36. Some believe the moon is made of this dairy product.
Green cheese.
37. According to the proverb, The blacksmith's horse and the cobbler's wife are
always the last to have WHAT?
Shoes.
38. According to the proverb, You cannot make a silk purse out of
WHICH MATERIAL?
A sow’s ear. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
(Irish proverb)
39. According to the saying, if life gives you lemons, what should you make?
Lemonade. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
4o. According to the rhyme, This little piggy went to market, this little piggy
stayed home. What did the third little piggy do?
Ate roast beef. This little piggy went to market;
This little piggy stayed at
home;
This little piggy ate roast beef;
this little piggy had none;
and
This little piggy cried, "Wee, wee, wee!
all the way home."
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41. It must have happened to you, too, that: If anything can go wrong, it will go
wrong. What law is this?
" Murphys Law "
42. About a small space we say there’s ‘not enough room to swing a cat’. Now don’t
picture a poor pet. This expression originally referred to a multi-tailed whip used for
punishment at sea. How many tails did it have?
9. Cat-o’-nine tails. (inflicts scratches like the claw of a cat)
44. In the first century BC, people began flipping coins to make decisions. In Rome they bore
the portrait of Julius Caesar on one side. This explains why we ask what question before a
coin toss.
Heads or tails.
45. According to folk wisdom, if sing all 5 verses and choruses of Onward Christian
Soldiers while boiling an egg it will come out perfectly cooked. Alternatively, you could
set your egg-timer for how many minutes?
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46. According to the saying, what will ‘faint heart’ never win?
Faint heart never won fair lady.
47. During his trial, OJ Simpson was asked to try on a bloody glove found at the crime
scene to see if it might be his. This led defense attorney Johnnie Cochran to offer what
famous rhyming quip?
"If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." A leather glove was found at the murder scene of
Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
48. If you or your family is keeping a secret, what, metaphorically is being kept the
closet?
A skeleton in the closet.
49. According to the saying, how many shakes of a lamb’s tail equals a moment?
Two. Two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
50. In 1865, William Ross Wallace wrote a poem praising motherhood as a force
for change in the world. According to the poem, which hand ‘rules the world’?
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The hand that rocks the cradle. "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand
That Rules The World"
51. Mothers warn their daughters not to be loose women. Otherwise, a man will
think: why buy THIS ANIMAL when you can get THIS DAIRY PRODUCT for free?
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
52. The Dodge slogan ‘Grab life by the horns’ was used to help sell this Dodge
pickup truck.
Dodge Ram.
53. Our favorite restaurant, KFC, gave us this catch-phrase to describe its tasty
chicken.
"Finger lickin' good"
54. According to popular wisdom, a cat that is dropped will land on its feet. This
phrase describes how a piece of buttered toast lands.
Butter-side down.
55. This American rock band from the late 60s, early 70s, is named for a practice
of aborignal Australians who used the body heat of dingos to keep them warm at
night.
3-dog night. 1, ‘cold’, 2 ‘colder’, 3 ‘freezing’.
Their first gold record was "One" (US #5). The group had three US #1 songs,: "Mama
Told Me Not to Come", "Joy to the World", "Black and White". The ink is black. The
page is white. Together we learn to read and write.
56. According to the saying, what is mightier than the sword?
The pen. The pen is mightier than the sword.
57. According to the saying, what substance is blood thicker than?
Water. Blood is thicker than water.
58. According to folklore, if the groundhog sees its shadow on Feb 2, then we will
have how many more weeks of winter weather?
6. If it’s cloudy, spring will come early. This is when it emerges from its burrow.
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59. About wealth, Jesus preached that it is easier for WHICH ANIMAL to go
through WHAT than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24
60. Billy Ray Cyrus rocked this hairstyle, described as: "business in the front,
party in the back". What is the name of this hairstyle?
The mullet. Short at the front and sides, and long in the back. May be named for
the fish.
61. Sometimes as we embolden ourselves, we reason, ‘What are they going to
do, hand me my head on a silver platter?’ In the Bible, seductive dancer Salome
asked King Herod for whose head on a plate?
John the Baptist’s.
62. The popular finger rhyme begins, ‘Here’s the church and here’s the people.’
What do you see when you open the door?
All the people. Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple. Open the door and
see all the people. Here’s the parson going upstairs. And here is his saying his
prayers.
63. Apparently, this 1st century emperor fiddled while Rome burned.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
64. What most famous question did Hamlet ask in Act III, Scene I?
"To be, or not to be: that is the question".
65. According to the saying, what is it that ‘people who live in glass houses’
shouldn’t do?
"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"
66. You can lead a horse to water, but what can’t you make him do?
Make him drink. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
67. Popular wisdom has it that if you are lost in the wilderness without a compass,
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you can look for moss, which grows thickest on which side of a tree?
The north side of a tree. It is generally believed that in northern latitudes, the north
side of trees and rocks will generally have more luxuriant moss growth on average
than other sides.
68. In weather lore, March enters like WHICH ANIMAL and leaves like WHICH
OTHER ANIMAL?
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
69. If, you wake up in the morning and instead of coffee, opt for ‘the hair of the
dog that bit you’, what are you planning to drink?
Alcohol. Earlier people thought hair of the rabid dog that bit you put on the wound
would help cure it.
70. According to folk wisdom, what will you find at the end of the rainbow?
A pot of gold.
71. According to popular wisdom, what will the weather be like after you wash
your car?
It will rain.
72. If you want a kiss, get your sweetheart under this plant!
Misteltoe.
73. According to the proverb, whose workshop is ‘an idle brain’?
The devil’s. An idle brain is the devil’s workshop.
74. In the Bible, Proverbs 15:1, we learn that THIS will turneth away wrath.
A soft answer. A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up
anger.
Bible - Proverbs 15:1.