Discover 10 proverbs that get us and why they still work!

Image: Elena Mozhvilo

Who said we need school to learn the most important lessons? Just kidding, school does matter. But do you know what is another source of knowledge and wisdom? Proverbs! In this article, we’ve listed 10 proverbs that you have probably heard and used, but never thought about where they come from. Why is it that we don’t have to count our chickens before they hatch? How come books are not to be judged by their cover? Read on and learn all about these expressions!

Image: Boris Smokrovic

Have you ever shown up late to a yard sale and found the good stuff already gone? You should’ve got there earlier, first even! That’s when you find the best things and that’s the essence of this saying.

First recorded in the 1600s, it is a proverb that reminds everyone that being early often gives you a leg up. For example, what about those early risers who get the best donuts while you’re still well asleep?

It’s not just about waking up early, though, it’s about being ready to make the most out of every opportunity. So, if you’re not really a morning person, don’t worry! Just be an "early bird" in your own way, timing is everything!

Image: Alena Jarrett

Do you know that kind of friend who always says they’ll help you move but conveniently disappears when the truck pulls up? That’s why this proverb exists.

This proverb dates back to the 1700s, and it’s a way of saying, "Show me, don’t tell me." Think about the neighbor who says they care about the community but never picks up litter, versus the one who just rolls up their sleeves and gets to work.

We trust what we see, not just what we hear, naturally. Life is full of promises, but only actions can turn them into reality. So next time someone offers to help, maybe just hand them a broom and see what happens.

Image: K Kannan

Planning ahead is key to leading an organized life, but a very different thing is to plan based on something you think will happen, only to find out it won’t! Imagine the chaos.

That’s the essence of this proverb which originated in Aesop’s fable, as a lesson not to plan on something before things are certain. Maybe you’ve booked a vacation before your bonus came through or splurged on new shoes before payday. Can you relate to this? We can, because it’s quite easy to get ahead of ourselves. But as life often proves, things don’t always pan out. The saying isn’t about squashing your excitement; it’s just a reminder to stay grounded.

Image: Andrew Butler

Think about daily scenarios like blaming the oven when the cookies burned due to your lack of attention! We know we’ve all been there! We know we said actions speak louder than words, but if you choose to go with your words, remember to stay honest!

This proverb has been around since the ancient Greeks and Romans, but Benjamin Franklin helped popularize it in the country. It’s not just about being virtuous, honesty is practical. Let’s be honest, lies always find a way of snowballing until you can’t keep them straight. Plus, most people can spot a lie a mile away. Honesty is always the best policy!

Image: Jon Tyson

We’re not trying to bring tragic memories back, but do you remember your first time dealing with a computer crash and losing all your work? That’s when you either cry or channel this saying.

This phrase, widely used in the mid-20th century and popularized by the Kennedys, is kind of a self-pep talk. It’s about finding strength when things feel quite impossible, like losing all the work you had stored on your computer.

Sure, tough times test us, but they also show us what we’re truly made of. And if you come to think about it, tough times are probably more than you can even remember. But the good news is that you’re still going strong, proof that resilience works!

Image: Ella Jardim

Publishing houses heard this proverb and said: "Oh, really? Check this out," and started editing beautifully designed covers that make us wonder if not judging a book by its cover is indeed good advice. However, regardless of how beautiful a cover is, you never know what you’ll find inside and the only way to do so is to read the whole book. So, that is what this proverb is all about.

It first appeared in the 1800s to teach us that appearances are only that and we’re not to be fooled by them. Maybe it’s that shy person who turns out to be a karaoke star or the plain-looking gift that hides the most thoughtful surprise.

We’ve all been guilty of snap judgments that turned out wrong. In those cases, we’d do good to remember that some of the best things in life are hidden in plain sight.

Image: Annie Spratt

Have you ever found a coupon for 20% off right after someone told you it’s a waste of time to clip them? Benjamin Franklin would be proud of you!

This saying is all about the joy of long-term thinking, and small savings adding up, just like stashing loose change in a jar. Now, don’t get us wrong, it’s not about being miserly, but about valuing every little bit. Remember when you skipped the fancy coffee for a week and could treat yourself to dinner instead? That’s the power of this proverb. From comparing gas prices to reusing that gift bag, every little "saved penny" is a win.

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Geoffrey Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales gave us great things, among which we can find one of the most valuable lessons in life: potiusque sero quam nunquam. Don’t you speak Latin? Don’t worry, the translation is "better late than never."

How many times have you thought it was too late to make that house improvement? Or maybe you thought you were too old to start studying a new language. Well, there’s no such thing as "too late" or "too old" for this saying.

The point is, showing up, no matter when, matters more than sitting it out. Life doesn’t come with perfect timing, so cut yourself some slack. That late call or project? It’s still appreciated. Trust us, nobody’s keeping a stopwatch.

Image: Alice Donovan Rouse

Picture this: You’re making a crossword puzzle, answers flowing right in front of you, but you come across one definition you simply cannot figure out. You spend hours on it, only to have someone instantly spot the answer for you. This doesn’t mean they are better than you, it means that two heads are much better than one.

First recorded in the Book of Proverbs from 1546, the lesson behind this proverb is to resort to extra help every time we need it, or even when we don’t exactly need it but want to see a project unfold smoothly and to its best potential.

You know, it is more fun to tackle challenges together, there’s beauty in sharing ideas, splitting the effort, and laughing along the way, don’t you think?

Image: Jakub Kapusnak

Nowadays, it’s not very common to see people going grocery shopping with a basket in which to put the eggs. However, the wisdom behind this proverb is timeless. Do you know what it means?

In short, this proverb prevents us from putting all of our faith into just one option. The clearest scenario is investments. Any expert in the field will tell you to put a little money into each of your investment choices. Why? Because if one of them fails, you have backup plans!

Life is unpredictable, so why risk everything on a single bet? Think of it as diversifying your happiness. After all, it is better to have a few baskets than just a broken one.

Words filled with meaning

The meaning behind 11 popular acronyms and initialisms

Compared to other languages, English employs a relatively high number of acronyms and initialisms. According to linguists, this happens because English words tend to be short, and the word order is quite strict. While initialisms are easy to distinguish because they are not pronounced as a word, we don’t always recognize acronyms, especially when they refer to everyday things. Here are 11 popular acronyms and initialisms and their meaning.

When the scuba was invented in 1952 by Christian J. Lambertsen, it had a different name that, coincidentally, was also an acronym. Lambertsen had named his invention LARU, or ‘Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit’, but he changed it when it was time to apply for a patent. The name in the patent application was SCUBA, after ‘Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’. Nowadays, scuba is a word of its own and has developed into words like scuba-diving.

In 1955, scientists who had developed a microwave radiation technology patented it as MASER or ‘Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation’. A few years later, American physicist Gordon Gould developed a similar technology, this time using light instead of microwaves. Following the pattern of MASER, he registered it as LASER or ‘Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation’. While the scientific community initially referred to this technology as the "optical maser", Gould’s acronym quickly became the preferred term.

If you’ve ever used the phrase "ATM machine", you need to know that you’re saying ‘machine’ twice. But don’t worry, this is a common error stemming from the fact that many people don’t know that ATM stands for ‘Automated Teller Machine’, a name that creates a parallelism between ATMs and bank tellers. Although the ATM was installed in 1967 in a London bank, no one really knows who was the first to call it ‘ATM’ instead of ‘cash-dispensing machine’.

The use of radio waves as a detection mechanism dates back to the late 19th century, but it was not properly developed until the 1920s, when the U.S. Navy started creating the first modern radars. By the Second World War, most military powers were using radio wave detection, but the technology did not have a name. In 1940, Lieutenant-Commanders Samuel M. Tucker and F. R. Furth of the U.S. Navy decided to come up with a code name and, after trying several phrases, landed on ‘Radio Detection And Ranging’, or RADAR.

If you are not familiar with the term CAPTCHA, you might recognize it as the test used by websites to make sure that you are human and not a robot. While clicking a box or selecting a picture is simple for a human, it’s extremely hard for a machine. What does the term CAPTCHA stand for? ‘Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’. The name contains a reference to the Turing test —a method used to check if machines can behave like humans— and the acronym also functions as a portmanteau of ‘capture’ and ‘gotcha’.

If you follow international politics, you might have heard about NATO, a military alliance between several countries, the U.S. included. But have you ever wondered what NATO stands for? This alliance was established with the signing of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty by several European and North American nations, and its name stands for ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’.

The discussions around GIF tend to focus on whether it’s pronounced "gif" or "jif", and one would think that the meaning of the acronym would shed some light on the matter, but it doesn’t. GIF stands for ‘Graphics Interchange Format’, a reference to its development to transfer compressed images across computers. While the ‘g’ in ‘graphic’ would suggest that the correct pronunciation is "gif", creator Steve Wilhite has stated that the acronym was modelled after the peanut butter brand Jif, and should be pronounced in the same way.

The BBC is one of the most famous broadcasters in the world, and its name is so iconic that it has evolved from an initialism to the official name for the company. Established in 1923 as the British Broadcasting Company, initialized as BBC, it became officially known as the BBC when the company transitioned from private to public. The BBC has become so connected with standard British culture that "BBC English" has been historically promoted as the standard speech for newscasters and network announcers.

Nowadays, we use the term CEO in corporate settings, but did you know that its origins are military and political? The first records of CEO as ‘Chief Executive Officer’ date back to legal and government texts from the 1780s, and the term is used in reference to leaders and state governors. However, the term would not become popular until the 1970s, when it was adopted by the corporate world for the highest-ranking person in a company.

When acronyms for an invention include a name, it’s often the name of its inventor. But sometimes, as it happened with the TASER, they include a name that has nothing to do with the person behind the invention. The TASER was developed by Jack Cover, but its acronym stands for ‘Tom A. Swift's Electric Rifle’. Who is Tom Swift? The protagonist of the 1911 science fiction novel_._ Cover added the ‘A’ initial to the name to make the acronym easier to pronounce.

When the U.S. Postal Service created its postal code system, also known as a ZIP code, they used an acronym for the name, but the meaning of the acronym was not really important. ZIP stands for ‘Zone Improvement Plan’, but this phrase doesn’t make complete sense. This is because the USPS was more interested in using the name ZIP to convey the idea that using postal codes would make deliveries faster and more efficient than what these letters stood for.