Grant dug up an old book of English proverbs, with gems like “Novelty always appears handsome,” and “New dishes beget new appetites.” Perhaps you can consider those before lining up for that new iPhone. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Old English Proverbs”
I was looking in old texts on Google Books again and found a collection of English proverbs from the 1850s.
And I’ve got a couple for you.
They’re in old language, but I think the sentiment is clear here.
Try the pair of these.
Novelty always appears handsome, and new dishes baguette new appetites.
Oh, wow.
I like the second one especially.
New dishes beget new appetites.
So I’m thinking in the modern day, we see this. You’ve got a phone, it works perfectly, there’s nothing wrong with it.
And yet the new model comes out, and you go buy it, even though it is exactly the same stuff.
It’s a little shinier, it’s new, it’s up to date, and we have this fascination with the shiny and the new, don’t we?
Right, novelty.
So we get the concept. It’s just the language of expressing these ideas is archaic to us, or at least old-fashioned, right?
Yeah, yeah, especially like the dishes.
We don’t really think about that.
No, and baguette. We don’t use baguette much anymore except that we’re in Bible study class.
It’s sort of like hunger is the best spice, right?
Yeah. If you’ve got a proverb to share, 877-929-9673 or email words@waywordradio.org.
i live in youngstown ohio. in youngstown, if you pass someone on the street and say, “hi!” they invariably respond, “kiss the fattest part of my ass.” where did that saying come from?