Proverbial challenge

From apples to inches: This game might teach you a thing or two!

Published on February 14, 2026

Image: Alex Shute

Wisdom comes in many shapes and sizes. Maybe it was a piece of advice a friend gave you, or that class at college you never forgot. Today, we have a game for you: wisdom in the shape of proverbs. How many do you know? Do you know what they mean? Read the first five sections to see the context, and try to guess the proverb. In the final sections, we’ll give out the answers. Ready for a challenge? Keep reading and see!

The apple doesn’t…

Image: Nikolai Chernichenko

We don’t only inherit our hair color; we also inherit behavior, gestures, and ways of talking, even. This proverb is used when those similarities are too big to hide! Good or bad, the attitude that you copy from a parent makes people go: "Well, you know, the apple doesn’t…"

Give someone an inch…

Image: Annie Spratt

Who hasn’t done a small favor for a friend or family member? Our days are full of good deeds, and they make us proud, right? Well, the problem comes when a simple favor turns into a bigger ask, and then an even bigger one. That friendly neighbor who asked for a tool first, but then asked you to fix the whole fence, you gave them an inch… What’s next?

Absence makes the heart…

Image: Christian GAFENESCH

Goodbyes are hard, there’s no denying that! But you know that some time apart from that special someone can really help you understand how you feel and, most times, you’ll learn you really love that person and wish they were right next to you again. How does absence make the heart feel?

No news is…

Image: Quino Al

Picture yourself in your house, looking at the phone, hoping to hear it ring with the bad news you know is coming your way. But time passes by, the phone never rings, and so you start feeling calmer and calmer. You just wait, hope for the best, and remind yourself that no news is…

Where there’s a will…

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Everyone hits rough patches. We’ve all been there, right? However, some people seem to strive right through them with nothing but determination. The confidence is high and there’s a certainty that if you want something badly enough, you’ll get it, no matter how hard it is to do so. After all, you know, where there’s a will…

Fall far from the tree

Image: Nathan Hulsey

That’s right, and Newton knew it! (LOL) All jokes aside, the proverb is the best way to say we are pretty similar to the people who raised us. How could we not? As long as it refers to good traits, cheers to that!

And they’ll take a mile

Image: Malachi Brooks

Oh, that neighbor! You can ask for a tool, but that’s that! This proverb highlights the difference between asking for a small favor and taking advantage of someone else! An inch is an inch, and that’s what you should ask for!

Grow fonder

Image: Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦

Distance and absence are what really show us how we feel about people. It’s not necessarily fair, but time apart can make feelings grow stronger. In the end, real connections are what matter, regardless of the distance!

Good news

Image: Vitaly Gariev

Stop waiting for the phone to ring. If it doesn’t, you know it’s because there’s nothing to say. And sometimes, that’s the best news you can get! Great proverb to help us deal with anxiety today, huh?

There’s a way

Image: sporlab

You could use the word "resilient," or you can put this great proverb to use! In any case, if you have it in you, if you really want it, you’ll find a solution to your problems!

Prophetic hits

10 times fiction turned into fact: predictions that became reality

Published on February 14, 2026

Image: Drew Beamer

No one can know what the future holds, but there’s no harm in trying to guess! Throughout history, some people have had a knack for making predictions that, no matter how impossible they seemed at the time, turned out to be true. From robotic assistants to the tragedy of the Titanic, there’s no shortage of eerie predictions that became reality. Here, we’ve gathered 10 of the craziest for your enjoyment!

When Mark Twain predicted his own death

Image: Justin Wolff

Twain famously predicted his own death. He stated that he would die with Halley’s Comet, which was visible in the sky in 1910. He said, "I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it." Remarkably, Twain passed away on April 21, 1910, just one day after Halley’s Comet made its closest approach to Earth, making his death one of the most uncanny and accurate personal predictions in history.

When Tesla predicted smartphones

Image: Paula Lavalle

Nikola Tesla envisioned a wireless, global communication system that would allow people to transmit voice, images, and information anywhere in the world. In a 1926 interview, he speculated about the future of mobile technology, saying, "When wireless is fully applied, the Earth will be converted into a huge brain, capable of solving the problems of humanity." This prediction is strikingly close to modern smartphones, though the "huge brain" part is a bit more questionable.

When Nostradamus nailed the year of the Great Fire of London

Image: Chris Karidis

Nostradamus’s quatrains are often cited as predictions of major events, and one of his verses is believed to foresee the Great Fire of London in 1666. The quatrain reads: "The blood of the just will be demanded of London, burnt by fire in the year ‘66." In fact, the historically infamous Great Fire of London did break out in 1666, devastating much of the city. Though Nostradamus' cryptic style leaves much room for interpretation, this one is as accurate as predictions can get!

When Jules Verne predicted the Moon landing

Image: Brian McGowan

Jules Verne’s 19th-century novel From the Earth to the Moon imagined a moon landing, complete with remarkable details such as launching from Florida and returning via splashdown in the ocean. His fictional spacecraft even bore a resemblance to the Apollo command module. To make this even more impressive, in Verne’s time, the idea of actually reaching the Moon was as alien and impossible as it gets! Space travel was purely the stuff of fantasy, and no one had yet conceived of the technology needed to make it a reality.

When a novel foretold the sinking of the Titanic

Image: Danting Zhu

In Morgan Robertson’s 1898 novella Futility, a ship called the Titan strikes an iceberg and sinks—all of this obviously sounds eerily familiar, but surprisingly it was written 14 years before the actual Titanic disaster! The many similarities are striking: both ships were deemed "unsinkable" and carried insufficient lifeboats.

When H.G. Wells imagined the Atomic Bomb

Image: Dan Meyers

In his 1914 novel The World Set Free, H.G. Wells described a future with "atomic bombs" many decades before their invention. His fictional weapons used radioactive decay to unleash destructive power, in an eerily similar fashion to nuclear weapons. Unsurprisingly, when the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945, physicists referenced Wells’ work, acknowledging its role in sparking public imagination about the potential and dangers of atomic energy.

When 19th-century sci-fi predicted credit cards

Image: Two Paddles Axe and Leatherwork

Edward Bellamy’s 1888 novel Looking Backward envisioned a utopian future in which citizens used a card to access funds from a central bank—a concept that closely resembles modern credit or debit cards, which didn’t emerge until the mid-20th century. While Bellamy’s vision was rooted in fiction, it’s clear he had a very good understanding of how emerging economic trends could shape the distant future.

When Mark Twain predicted the Internet

Image: Leon Seibert

Mark Twain certainly had a knack for predicting the future. Not content with foreseeing the date of his own death, he also described a global "telectroscope" network that connected people instantly across the world—a concept we now easily recognize as an early imagining of the internet.

When a silent film predicted video calls

Image: Chris Montgomery

The silent 1927 film Metropolis featured a video phone, many years before such technology was even considered possible. This futuristic device envisioned real-time, face-to-face communication, remarkably similar to how video calls work today. The film captured early 20th-century optimism about technological progress, highlighting how fiction can inspire real-world innovation.

When Asimov predicted AI

Image: Possessed Photography

In Asimov’s I, Robot (1950), he envisioned a world where robots worked alongside humans, governed by ethical guidelines such as the famous "Three Laws of Robotics." While we aren’t quite there yet, the issues and concepts Asimov introduced continue to resonate today. His work not only anticipated the potential of artificial intelligence but also sparked ongoing ethical debates about AI development and the complexities of integrating advanced technology into society.