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

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

Staples of American cuisine

In a nutshell: The surprising origins of 12 common foods and ingredients

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Did you know that the word food comes from the Old English foda, meaning "nourishment or fuel"? Many of American signature dishes and ingredients are borrowed from other cultures, while others are an inescapable part of our idiosyncrasy. The names of the foods we eat the most in the United States have their origins in different parts of the world. In this article, we have selected 12 popular ingredients to find out how and where they got their names. Explore this list of delicious word histories and see if you can spot your favorite foods!

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The thought of a slice of bacon sizzling on a hot skillet makes anyone's mouth water. Bacon is a key ingredient of American cuisine, present in many recipes, from breakfast to dinner. But you probably never stopped to think about where this word we use so often comes from. Today we're going to fix that.

The word bacon was adopted from French in the 14th century and can be traced back to the ancient German term bakkon meaning "back meat." In its early use, the word could refer to fresh or cured pork and was also used to describe a pig's carcass.

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Mayonnaise is probably the most popular condiment in the United States. Whether as a sandwich spread or as a salad dressing, mayonnaise is present in many of our traditional dishes. Yet, it is not our own invention: we imported it from Europe.

The origin of the term mayonnaise isn’t very clear. It may have been named after a battle at the city of Mahón, Spain, or it may come from moyeu, an older French word for "egg yolk." Other spellings throughout history include bayonnaise, in reference to the French port of Bayonne. Another theory states that the term may have come from the name of Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, who, according to legend, took the time to finish a dish of saucy chicken before a battle.

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A popular camping tradition and an ingredient in popular snacks, desserts, and cereal, marshmallows are quintessential to American cuisine. So much so that we even have a special day to honor them: 30th August is marked as National Toasted Marshmallow Day.

The word marshmallow comes from the Old English mersc-mealwe, the name of a plant that grows near salt marshes. Back in the 19th century, when was first named, the roots of this plant were used to make early versions of this amazing and versatile confection.

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Broccoli and cauliflower are two controversial vegetables: you either love them or hate them. Yet, according to a survey from Green Giant in 2022, broccoli was voted Americans' favorite vegetable.

Since it’s one of the most consumed vegetables in our country, let us tell you the origin of its name. The word broccoli was adopted from the Italian term broccolo, meaning "sprout". Cauliflower, the least favorite sibling of the Brassica oleracea family, was originally spelled cole florye in English. The term comes from the Italian cavoli fiori, meaning "flowered cabbage".

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Burritos may be a Mexican dish but in America we absolutely adore them. You probably know that the Spanish word burrito means "little donkey" in English. But where does this name come from?

According to legend, a vendor named Juan Mendez roamed the streets of Ciudad Juarez with his donkey during the Mexican Revolution selling a unique concoction of beans and other fillings wrapped in a huge flour tortilla. By all accounts, people began to call them "burritos". Another theory states that they were named after the animal because they contain many different ingredients, and a donkey can carry big packs filled with many things. Whatever its origin, over the years the burrito has become a favorite lunchtime meal both in northern Mexico and the southern United States.

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Oatmeal, chocolate chip, shortbread, or snickerdoodles? Which ones are your favorites? In America, we have an infinite —and delicious— range of cookies. But while these sweet baked snacks are an undeniable part of our cuisine, we have to look for the origin of their name on the other side of the Atlantic.

The word cookie comes from the Dutch koekje, meaning "little cake." Dutch has made significant contributions to English vocabulary, especially in the food and drink department. Since many of the Anglo-Saxons who settled in Britain came from the area now known as the Netherlands, it is not surprising that Old English vocabulary has many parallels in modern Dutch vocabulary. And cookies are no exception!

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Succulent, creamy, and popular, Mac & Cheese are as rich as they are legendary. While it is one of America's iconic dishes, the origin of the pasta, as we know, is Italian.

What we refer to as macaroni comes from the southern Italian dialectal maccaroni, a word for a pasty food made of flour, cheese, and butter. In turn, maccaroni goes back to Greek makaria, meaning "food made from barley".

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A beignet is a sweet deep-fried pastry served under a cloud of powdered sugar that tastes similar to doughnuts. Although they have their origin in French cuisine, beignets are a staple of Southern food culture. They were introduced to New Orleans by French immigrants in the 18th century and to this day are a favorite treat among locals and tourists alike.

As you can imagine, the origin of the word beignet —pronounced "bayne-yay"— is French and its literal translation is "fritter". It comes from the Old French buigne, meaning "bump" or "lump", which in turn might have roots in the Celtic term bigne, meaning "to raise".

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One out of every two Americans starts their day with a bowl of cereal. In fact, Americans consume roughly 2.7 billion boxes every year. Although cereal has been around since the advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago, breakfast cereal is a decidedly American staple food.

The word cereal, used to refer both to the breakfast food and grains in general, derives from the Roman goddess Ceres, who represented agriculture, crops, fertility, and motherhood. Her name, in turn, comes from Proto-Indo-European ḱerēs, meaning "to satiate, feed," also the source of "create" and "increase."

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Whether as a breakfast meal or grilled for 4th of July celebrations, sausage is one of our most versatile foods and can be eaten alone or used as an ingredient in other dishes.

This type of preparation has been popular throughout Western cuisine for centuries. Before refrigerators and big supermarkets, people needed to preserve foods to eat during long winters. One way to save meat was to salt it and make it into a sausage. For this reason, the origin of this word is easily found in the Latin salsus, meaning "salted".

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Tomato ketchup became popular in the United States in the mid-19th century. Since then it has seasoned our most famous dishes, from hamburgers to french fries. But did you know that in the old days, there were many other flavors of ketchup?

In fact, it is believed it was a word coined in English to refer to various condiments imported from the East. One theory states that the term ketchup comes from a Chinese word for fish sauce which takes various forms in different dialects including kê-chiap and kôe-tsap. Another version says it derives from the name of a Malaysian sauce called kichap, which was made with pickled fish and mushrooms. In any case, it’s a sauce that always makes us happy!

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Our breakfasts would be a lot more dull if we didn't have this golden delicacy to sweeten our pancakes. Syrup is an excellent healthy source of sugar, and we love it! Although the United States is a major producer of syrup, the origin of the word goes back hundreds of years.

The term syrup comes in part from the Old French sirop, meaning "sugared drink" and the Italian siroppo. But these words, in turn, derive originally from the Arabic sharab, which means "to drink".