Hi, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on five popular
English proverbs. First, what is a proverb? Well, every culture has proverbs. They are
sayings, or wise words, or words of advice that people use in given contexts/situations.
Now, again, I mentioned that every culture has proverbs. They are culturally specific.
There are some that, you know, go across various cultures, various languages. And maybe some
or perhaps all of the ones I will look at today, you will be familiar with in your own
language. But the key is to learn it in English so that you know which verb we use with the
proverb or what the correct phrase is. So the important thing is to memorize them, because
you will hear them all the time in movies, you'll read them in books, you'll hear them
in conversations.
Let's not waste any more time, and let's start with number one.
"Actions speak louder than words."
So, this is a very common proverb across many languages. Again, in English,
it's: "Actions speak louder than words." So the important thing, again, memorize the exact
phrasing because if one word is different, some people might not understand what you
mean. So this proverb simply means actually doing something means much more than just
talking about it. If you have a friend who always talks about doing great things with
their life, but they never do anything about it, it doesn't mean anything. Their words
are meaningless. So, in this situation, I will only believe you once I see you doing
it. Actions speak louder than words.
Let's look at number two.
"Laughter is the best medicine." So, this is a proverb which
simply means that laughing makes it easier to deal with difficult situations. So if you're
having a hard time, you know, in school or you've received some sad news about someone
in your family, maybe your friend invites you to watch a comedy movie at the movie theatre,
and they say: "Come on. Laughter is the best medicine." If you're in a difficult situation,
it helps to remind you that, you know, there are good things in the world and just laugh
about it. You will feel a little bit better. So, laughter is the best medicine.
Now, let's move on to number three.
"Two wrongs don't make a right." So in this context, we
mean that revenge will not fix the problem. If someone does something to you and you want
to do something bad to them, that's not going to fix the problem. They're wrong, you're
wrong, it doesn't make it right. And it can also mean that morally bad actions-this is
a philosophical question; it's up to you to decide what is morally bad-do not justify
their results. So if you just keep doing bad things, but you're getting, let's say, a lot
of money for these bad things, those bad things don't make it right. Okay? So remember:
two wrongs don't make a right.
Now, let's move on to number four.
"Better late than never." So, this simply means exactly
what it says. It's better to do something, even if it's late, than to never do it at
all. So if you have a writing assignment at school, it's better that you finish it, obviously,
on time, but if it can't be on time, do it late because it's much better to do it late
and lose 20%, 30% than to not do it at all and to get a zero. So, better late than never.
Finally, let's look at number five. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." This simply
means that when you are in a new situation or a new place, do your best to follow the
expected customs of that situation or of that place. This is a very common expression that
people use, especially when they're on vacations. So, if you're in a new place, for example,
Paris, France, and let's say that the stereotype is people drink wine, eat baguettes with butter
and cheese, maybe that's what you want to do and say: "Okay, well, when in Rome..."
Even though you're in Paris, you still say "Rome". "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
It's also possible just to say: "When in Rome", and English speakers, most of them, will understand
that you mean: "Oh, okay, well, I guess in this situation, this is what is expected,
this is what we should do in this context."
Now, let's quickly review all five of these proverbs. Okay, so to start, we had:
"Actions speak louder than words."
It means more when you do something instead of just talk about
it. We have: "Laughter is the best medicine." which means if you're in a difficult situation
or going through a difficult time, laughing makes you feel better.
We have: "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Don't try to, you know, counter one person's bad action with another
bad action. "Better late than never." If you're going to do something, do it on time, but
if you can't do it on time, at least do it late. Do it anyway. And, finally:
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." If you're in a new situation,
a new context, a new place,
try to follow the expected customs of that place.
Again, the most important thing about these proverbs is to memorize them word-for-word.
Even if one word is off, people will say: "No, that's... That's not the saying. That's
not the proverb." So, to test your understanding, make sure that you've memorized these phrases,
you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
What's that? You want to go party? Yeah? When in Rome.