[John Whitworth]

No. 2850: proverbial

We have had this before many times. But why not. An owl in a sack troubles no man. That's from the Staggers long ago. Good, isn't it? The Bob Scott one comes from the same competition long ago so don't try recycling them. As if you would!

You are invited to invent proverbs that sound profound but have no meaning. To give you inspiration, here is one I came across by Bob Scott: ‘The man on the Clapham omnibus will never get to Highgate’. You can submit up to ten each. Please email entries, wherever possible, to lucy@spectator.co.uk by midday on 28 May.

[John Whitworth]

We can all play this pretty well indefinitely. Two of these are not mine, I have to admit

It's a wise child that knows its own elbow

A cat may look at another cat

A miss is as good as a missus

A problem shared is a problem everybody knows about

All roads lead to roundabouts

Hell hath no fury like a woman's corns

It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all

Nature abhors a vacuum cleaner

Never speak ill of a dead horse

[Ann Drysdale]

He will if he hops off at Clapham Common and gets the tube. If he catches a Barnet train, he won't have to change.

[Douglas G. Brown]

A fool and his money butter no parsnips

Beware the ides of starch

A fly in the ointment gathers no moss.

Act in haste, repent in North Dakota

March comes in like a proctologist, and goes out like a lamb

April showers bring cauliflowers

Verily, it is easier to pass a turd through the eye of a needle than to pick it up by its clean end.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the Zamboni

It is a wise child that knows his mother’s postman

There’s a chukker born every 7 ½ minutes

The early bird gets the positive pregnancy test

You cantaloupe and eat it too

You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd (by the late Roger Miller)

[Roger Slater]

An egg when scratched
will soon be hatched.

A rainstorm will come
if you wiggle your thumb.

The blindest bat
sees more than a cat.

A barking dog
can squeal like a hog.

No building can house
a cat that meows

The movement of trees
is what causes the breeze.

No bird is allowed
to fly through a cloud.

When dolphins pee
they sully the sea.

Don't startle a bull
whose bladder is full.

When the sun sets
the light forgets.

[Adrian Fry]

A competition setter in a sack troubles no man with repeated proverb competitions.

[Roger Slater]

*Live life as if every day were Wednesday.
*The nose can hear what the foot is deaf to.
*If not now, who?
*Two peas in a podcast.
*Gather ye rosebuds while the cows come home.
*Do unto others as the crow flies.
*The way to a man's heart is paved with good intentions.
*Early to bread, early to pies.

[Rob Stuart]

I like Roger's 'Wednesday' one particularly.

Henceforth I shall live my life according to his teachings.

[Gail White]

Joel Chandler Harris produced a bunch of "plantation proverbs" of which my favorite - which I've waited all my life for a chance to say - was
"Cat mighty dignified till the dog come by."

[Gail White]

A cat in the milk can be expected.
The clergy have no cure for gout.
Wise men vote, fools are elected.
A cat in the milk will find no trout.

A cat in the milk does not churn butter.
Pennies and dogs are saved in vain.
Ghost may gibber but gremlins mutter.
A cat in the milk is a sign of rain.

You can tell a Moncreiffe by the cut of his ilk.
A lawyer looks for a cat in the milk.