Marjorie in Huntsville, Alabama, wonders about the saying Empty wagons make the most noise suggesting that the people who talk the most about a subject aren’t necessarily the most knowledgeable. This notion goes all the way back to ancient Latin proverb Vasa vana plurimum sonant, which translates as “Empty pots make the most noise.” There are variations of this saying that involve an empty canister, kettle, vessel, barrel, pitcher, pail, or bowl. Yet another proverb along these lines is Shallow streams make the most noise. For that matter, you can describe someone as making more noise than a jackass in a tin barn. The opposite is also true: The proverb The loaded wagon makes the least noise suggests that it’s often the person who stays quiet on a subject who actually knows the most about it. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Empty Wagons Make the Most Noise”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, how are you? This is Marjorie.
Marjorie, where are you calling from?
I’m calling from Huntsville, Alabama.
What can we do for you, Marjorie?
Well, when I was a little girl, my mother and my grandmother always had a saying, and that was, empty wagons make a lot of noise. And it took me a long time before I realized what it meant, but I was wondering where it came from, what’s its origin, or was it just something that they made up for us as children?
An empty wagon makes a lot of noise. What context would she say this in?
Well, she would say it usually like if we were in the bedroom and all of us were talking loudly or complaining about something or getting ready to tattle. She would turn and say, you know, empty wagons make a lot of noise.
Need to think about that. So I do understand its meaning now. And with the presidential race going on, it fits right now. But I was just wondering where it came from, you know, or was it just something they made up?
Oh, it’s a really, really, really old idea. This idea of an empty wagon making a lot of noise. So it’s clattering along the bumpy road and making a lot of noise, but it really doesn’t have much of anything in it, right? And the idea is that people who maybe don’t know that much about a subject may be the people who talk the most and talk the loudest about it. Is that your understanding of it?
Well, yeah. And it’s also, as I got older, I realized that people say a lot of things, but their content is really nothing. There’s nothing there.
So an empty wagon is like an empty head.
Absolutely, absolutely. And I remember hearing my grandmother say it and my mother, and I’ve said it to my children, but I was wondering if there was a particular state or region of the country it came from.
Well, we can tell you that it’s old. It goes back to at least the 19th century. And there’s another corollary saying that goes, the loaded wagon makes the least noise. And if you think about it, a wagon that’s got a whole lot of stuff in it isn’t going to make the same amount of noise, sort of like, you know, that quiet person in the office who doesn’t make a big fuss, but they’re the one who is the most productive of the bunch.
But what’s also really interesting about this whole idea of something empty making a lot of noise is that this idea goes all the way back at least to ancient Rome. There was a Roman proverb.
Yeah, there was a Roman proverb that went wasa, wana, plurumum sonant in Latin, which means empty pots make the most noise. And it’s sort of that same idea, you know, like a rattling tea kettle that’s not quite full. And there are lots of different variations of this.
An empty barrel makes a lot of noise.
Grant, I know you’re fond of some other ones.
Yeah, I’ve seen empty pitcher, vessel, barrel, canister, pail, and bowl. You can describe somebody as making more noise than a jackass in a tin barn.
And I’ve heard that one, too. I heard that one.
Oh, you have.
But there’s another one.
I have heard that one. There’s another one about streams.
Shallow streams make the most noise.
So you’re describing somebody as being shallow.
Yeah, thank you for the information. And y’all have a good day.
All right, you too, Nath. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Thanks.
Bye-bye.
There’s a couple variations on the phrase that I want to share. The loaded wagon creaks, the empty one rattles. So that’s the two different forms of that together.
Serious person who knows a lot is fairly quiet and the one with nothing in their head is loud. And the wagon makes the loudest noise when it’s going out empty. And then I think the, my favorite one of all is the longer form still making more noise than an empty wagon on a frozen road. And you can imagine that, right?
Oh yeah. In any case, they’re all very picturesque. You know, it reminds me of all hat and no cattle.
Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. But these aren’t strictly from the American South or from rural areas. You’ll find them throughout the English-speaking world.
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