Turning
Old Clichés into New Maxims:
Get Your Recycled Clichés
Here!
By Richard
Eyre
Editor’s Note: This column (which, every two weeks, attempts to debunk an old,
false, outdated cliché and replace it with a current and true
maxim) is now resuming after a brief hiatus as the author
was traveling. Today’s article begins with an introduction
to the resumption and continuation of this column.
The funny thing about some of our most familiar clichés is
that they are so outdated and meaningless that new generations
mix them up and unintentionally produce hilarious hybrids.
A young Boston chef is stirring a soup
tureen, telling his employer, “Spare the rod, spoil the broth.” A San Diego child who had been incautious
with fire is hospitalized with burns, and her young mother
tells her, “You’ve cooked your goose, now lie in it.” A boy
working in a St. Louis zoo declares, “Monkey do, but you can’t
make him drink it!”
An article in The New Republic cites a study in which
76 percent agreed with the statement that, “It is impossible
to see the forest while the cat was away,” and 86 percent
accepted that, “Blood is thicker than the milk of human kindness.”
The same article suggests that some of the misquoted adages
may subconsciously reflect a more accurate grasp of emerging
political, social and economic realities. Perhaps “a penny
saved is worth two in the bush”; maybe “an empty barrel will
keep the doctor away,” and who’s to disagree if someone says,
“There’s more than one way for every dog to do as the Romans
do.”
*
The
first fourteen columns of this series replaced some old clichés
on the subjects of attitudes, paradigms, and personal management.
The final twelve columns, starting with the next one in two
weeks, will provide new maxims having more to do with priorities,
relationships, and families — the things that are the most
important to us — and the power we have to make them more
like we want them to be.
