You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Proverbs are an excellent method for getting your students to think about figurative language. Below are three activities to involve your students with proverbs.

1. Translating Proverbs:

Given the following list of phrases, students will translate them to form familiar proverbs. The original proverb is given in italics. I generally will write one of the phrases on the chalkboard and allow my students to work on translating it throughout the class period. This is a good activity for getting your students to use dictionaries and thesauruses also.

• A vessel under optical supervision never reaches a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
  A watched pot never boils.
• Plumaged birds of the same species congregate in the same place.
  Birds of a feather flock together.
• A polished steel instrument used at the appropriate moment will be tantamount to the saving of three times three.
  A stitch in time saves nine.
• Accelerated execution produces faulty results.
  Haste makes waste.
• One feathered aerial biped imprisoned digitally is equal in value to twice that many aboreally located.
  A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
• Inquisitiveness on the part of a member of the feline species was responsible for its extinction.
  Curiosity killed the cat.
• A carnivorous mammal of the family Candidae is the genus Homo's most loyal compeer.
  A dog is man's best friend.
• You can get away with anything in dealing with Eros and Ares.
  All's fair in love and war.
• It's impossible to extract a plasma in which corpuscles are suspended from the edible root of a certin brassicaceous plant.
  You can't squeeze blood from a turnip.
• Each cumulus formation is possessed of an inner surface covering made of argentum.
  Every cloud has a silver lining.
• Never subject a presented equine to denticular inspection.
  Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
• An individual with poor judgment and his collateral are soon estranged.
  A fool and his money are soon parted.

2. New from Old:

• There's no fool...like an old fool.
• Beauty is...only skin deep.
• A rolling stone...gathers no moss.
• It's the squeaky wheel...that gets the oil.
• Don't count your chickens...before they're hatched.
• A friend in need...is a friend indeed.
• You only miss the watER...when the well runs dry.
• You can lead a horse to water...but you can't make him drink.

3. It Really Means: