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Find a well-known saying to express these waffly ideas succinctly.
For each sentence below, suggest a well-known proverb that captures the idea. Do you agree with my answers? For example:
Hold on to what you have, don’t risk it in the hope of getting more.
→ A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
1 This is the small and seemingly harmless beginning of something that will get steadily bigger and worse.
2 The number of people working on this is too great for it to be success.
3 Those who come nearest the start have the best chance of leaving with a prize.
4 It’s dangerous to make accusations when you are guilty of the same fault yourself.
You may find suitable phrases in this list. They are given in A-Z order.
It’s the thin end of the wedge. People in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones. The early bird catches the worm. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Posted November 4 2024
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Nobody has a monopoly on the truth, neither the scholars of the past nor the scholars of today.
Posted November 4 2024
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A Welshman was not keen on handing over his employer’s money just because Tom Dorbel had a gun.
Posted November 2 2024
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Attach suitable negative prefixes to these words, e.g lucky → unlucky.
This is adapted from an idea in NL Clay’s Exercises 12-13 (1933).
Attach appropriate negative prefixes to these words, e.g. grateful → ungrateful. There may be more than one answer for some words.
1 Adequate. Approve. Attentive. Balanced. Credible. Discreet. Dress. Fasten.
2 Formal. Inter. Involved. Man. Moderate. Obedient. Partial. Pious.
3 Please. Probable. Qualify. Respect. Satisfied. Secure. Suitable. Sure. Valid.
Disapprove. Disinter. Disobedient. Displease. Disqualify. Disrespect. Dissatisfied. Imbalanced. Immoderate. Impartial. Impious. Improbable. Inadequate. Inattentive. Incredible. Indiscreet. Informal. Invalid. Undress. Unfasten. Uninvolved. Unman. Unsuitable. Unsure.
Posted October 31 2024
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119
Flemish merchants hoping to prosper in Russia’s commercial capital received a nasty shock.
Posted October 31 2024
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Sir Thomas Roe had some difficulty making an impression on Emperor Jehangir.
I recently added this post, What to Get the King Who Has Everything.
In 1615, King James I sent an ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, to the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jehangir. The recently-founded East India Company asked for ‘a mere merchant’ as being less expensive to maintain than some courtier, but the King chose Sir Thomas Roe. “He was a stiff-necked Englishman” wrote H. E. Marshall, “with a very good idea of the importance of his King and of himself. He was quite willing to be as polite and as courteous to the Great Mogul as he would have been to a European prince, but no more.”
This meant that Roe treated Jehangir with an equal regard that the Khan, who was himself a man of remarkably serious mind, did not quite expect. Roe did not bow and scrape before him, and he did not present him with chests of jewels. He gave him a modern carriage, a dress sword, and a concert of English keyboard music. Roe’s letter to the Company, written from Ajmer on January 25th, 1616, tells how Jehangir reacted to these culturally serious gifts.
Posted October 31 2024