Posted by Brad Osborne on November 9, 2019 · 5 Comments
This is yet another in the series of adages that resisted form. You can read of my lament in my original post ‘New World Adages’. A long dissertation on the differences between quotes, proverbs, and adages, finishing with a few hopeful additions to the book of words to live by. I added to this … Continue reading →
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Posted by Brad Osborne on October 6, 2019 · 4 Comments
If you are unsure of your beliefs, look at what you do, not what you say.
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Posted by Brad Osborne on September 6, 2019 · 5 Comments
This is a very common phrase, and a great number of variations span across many languages. It is also one that has held onto more than one long-standing mythical etymology that swirls through the internet today.
Posted by Brad Osborne on August 23, 2019 · 4 Comments
The popular theory, although entertaining and a bit creepy, comes from an oft repeated origin, that goes something like this:
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Posted by Brad Osborne on August 16, 2019 · 1 Comment
And we have seen through this series how idioms of this time period often revolve around horses.
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Posted by Brad Osborne on August 9, 2019 · 2 Comments
There is a popular story that says, back in the 18th and 19th centuries, women who suffered from disfiguring marks left by small pox used beeswax to smooth out their complexion.
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Posted by Brad Osborne on July 24, 2019 · 10 Comments
I also love adages. Those old-timey pearls of wisdom that ring true through generations and centuries.
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Posted by Brad Osborne on June 21, 2019 · 1 Comment
This is more a proverb than an idiom, and as with most wisdom the origin is ancient and unknown. We have some clues, however.
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Posted by Brad Osborne on June 7, 2019 · 4 Comments
Welcome to the weekly series “Friday’s Phrase”. A whimsical and informative look at the idioms, phrases, proverbs and colloquialisms we commonly use, what they mean, and where they came from.
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commonsensiblyspeaking 