Two figures of speech that I hate

[xiphias]

There are, of course, competing homilies -- you should look before you strike while the iron is hot, because he who hesitates measures twice and cuts once. But I'm talking about sayings that are just plain WRONG on their face.

For the record -- given a choice, I DON'T measure, and rather line the piece up with where I want it to go, draw a mark, then cut along the mark. I don't ACTUALLY know if the board is 4' 9 1/2" or 4' 10" or whatever -- all I know is that it's the same length as the place that it's supposed to fit. So I actually "measure never and cut until it fits", but "measure twice and cut once" isn't WRONG -- it's just useful in different circumstances. (If I was cutting the piece elsewhere, for instance, and bringing it over, that's how I'd do it, for instance.)

1. "Fight fire with fire."

No. Don't. Fight fire with WATER. Or maybe a CO2 extinguisher. A bucket of dirt and a shovel. Halon fire suppression systems. Stuff like that. But, c'mon. There ARE specific, limited conditions in which controlled back burns clear out fuel to prevent fires from spreading. But it really shouldn't be your go-to solution.

2. "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

You ever tried? If you've got a fruit fly trap, you know what you bait it with? Vinegar. Not honey. Because flies don't LIKE honey. Every once in a while, a fly will land in honey and get stuck, but they don't seek it out. Vinegar, on the other hand is CRAZY addictive to fruit flies. They seek out, y'know, rotting fruit. Which turns into vinegar. Which is what they like. Not honey.

I'm sure I could come up with others. Any other favorites?

Comments

[rymrytr.livejournal.com]

The "Honey and Vinegar" was used to illustrate that it was better to talk or treat others nicely, if you wanted good results. If you were rude or condescending, you would not get the good treatment or responses you would expect, in the future, when dealing with someone to whom you have been "a pain in the butt"s.

"Squeaky - Grease" The Oregon Trail Wagons, for one example, was a long, daily drudge. You and a hundred other families going across miles and miles of miles and miles. A wooden wheel and a wooden axle, when not kept greased, created a loud and extremely annoying, high pitched scream...

"Fire with Fire" is a common concept in forestry and other land, weed and insect control. You start your fire on one place, where you have prepared the ground so that the fire can only go forward. Then, on the other side of the filed (or in fighting Forest Fires), you set a "back fire". The two fires come together, so that the highest point of heat and flame, is in the middle and thereby, more controllable. As and aside: Native populations often used controlled burning, to clear tall grass and then gather (and eat) the insects and other small animals.

"Measure twice" was a common thing, taught to apprentices. Once you cut the board to a length, and then tried to fit it in, sometimes you would find that you should have measured twice, to be assured. Once you became a Journeyman, in Cabinet Making for example, it was unnecessary to measure twice (or often), since you had, by then, learned the lessons of carelessness.

These are not all the examples related to these sayings; just those things I've learned, over the past 68 years.

And here's what I say, in place of (glass houses and rocks), which was used to say, "if you point at your neighbor and make accusations or gossip, you'd better be sure that there is no "sins" in your own life:

"Individuals who inhabit invisible edifices, should forgo the pleasures of hurling geological specimens indiscriminately!" :o)