Common sayings and expressions we'd like to believe as true but really a bunch of BS

[IntoxicatingToxin]

If it doesn't kill you it only makes you stronger.

This one is a complete crock of macho motivational bullshit, mentally and physically. I've suffered a few hard physical knocks in this life and let me say: Spinal damage and dislocated limbs that leave the sufferer unable to roll from one side of a bed to another fail to engender a newfound sensation of strength and agility.

I tend to think that it's true mentally... but I guess that depends on what kind of person you are, as well.

*An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
*Opposites attract.
*Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
*Blondes have more fun.
*Out of site, out of mind. (Might work for persons under the age of 3.)

 

[Principessa]

"God never gives us more than we can handle."

Speaking as someone who is getting a wee bit tired of rolling with the punches. I wish God would stop overestimating my capacity to handle things, :headache: as I am begining to feel a bit like Job. :12:

 

[whatireallywant]

Sticks and Stones will break your bones but words will never harm you.

Girls who wear glasses never get passes.

It is better to have loved and lost than to have ever loved at all.

I can attest to the untruth of the first two! :biggrin1: Unfortunately, the first is very untrue... and words can be more damaging than the sticks and stones. I know for a fact that in school, if I had to be bullied, I would rather have physical bullying than verbal bullying. I could more easily defend myself against the physical, and the long-term effects are not as severe.

AND... guys have made passes at me, and I've worn glasses since the age of 4.

 

[whatireallywant]

<snip>*Opposites attract.
*Blondes have more fun.

I have never understood the "opposites attract" one! I thoroughly believe the opposite saying though - Birds of a feather flock together.

Which reminds me of a funny card I saw once in the card shop. On the front it said "Birds of a feather flock together", you open it up and it says "Wanna flock?" :biggrin1:

I've never been a blonde so I don't know if they have more fun or not... I tried on blonde wigs a couple of times and I look thoroughly ridiculous - with my complexion it just doesn't go. I was totally meant to be a brunette...

 

[Whopper-lee]

:smile:

".... ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR"

is it really?

 

[whatireallywant]

"great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from
mediocre minds"

I think this one is true, though.

 

[whatireallywant]

:smile:

".... ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR"

is it really?

Nope... that one's totally not true!

 

[Dorian_Gray]

me and some guys found one, one night when were smoking...

"hunger is the best cook"
or
"nothing ventured, nothing gained"

 

[b.c.]

I've always hated, "Everything happens for a reason," ...usually uttered after some catastrophe of epic porportions with the intended implication that it was part of some divine plan.

(No, dear. "Shit" happens.)

 

[Dorian_Gray]

"everything that has a beginning, has an end"

 

[JustAsking]

If it doesn't kill you it only makes you stronger.

This one is a complete crock of macho motivational bullshit, mentally and physically. I've suffered a few hard physical knocks in this life and let me say: Spinal damage and dislocated limbs that leave the sufferer unable to roll from one side of a bed to another fail to engender a newfound sensation of strength and agility.

Yes, I agree. It does contain an element of truth, though. A more accurate saying might be:

What doesn't kill you:
- Might make you stronger.
- Might make you physically broken and useless.
- Might break you mentally.
- Might actually kill you.

Or it might just be reworded as,

"We often become stronger through hardship."

Another saying I find to be extremely destructive is:

"Always do your best."

This is probably the most damaging thing one can tell to a child. The implication is that you are dogshit if you are not always doing your best. And what is worse is that kids often interpret that as you are dogshit if you are not the overall best. This one stupid phrase leads to so much pathological perfectionism in the world.

I used to counter it in my kids with the following example. I say that the level of quality that is needed in a particular endeavor is a function of the endeavor itself. For example, I take the garbage cans out to the street every Thursday night. When I do that, I don't try to do my best. On the other hand, if I were performing brain surgery, I would surely be trying to do my best. Most things in life lie somewhere between taking the garbage out and brain surgery. The trick is to be able to figure out where things lie on that spectrum and adjust one's effort accordingly.

This is especially important when kids hit college and they are not in control of their workload. Professors from each course are assigning work and test dates in complete disregard for what other professors are doing. Instead of doing your best, it is a much better survival skill to become good at triage. That is more like real life anyway, since everything you put your time into has opportunity cost somewhere else.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

I've always hated, "Everything happens for a reason," ...usually uttered after some catastrophe of epic porportions with the intended implication that it was part of some divine plan.

Yes. Such advice is sometimes called "Job's Comfort" and is usually dispensed by a insensitive twit who hasn't recently suffered a catastrophic loss.

 

[JustAsking]

Yes. Such advice is sometimes called "Job's Comfort" and is usually dispensed by a insensitive twit who hasn't recently suffered a catastrophic loss.

Haha, yes! This is the biggest piece of bad advice that someone can give. Ironically, if it is called Job's Comfort it is totally opposite to the conclusion of Job. This advice is given to Job by one of his "friends" and it ends up on God's scrap heap being rejected along with all the other well meaning but bogus explanations they gave Job for his predicament.

The actual lesson of Job is that "Shit Happens". (slightly more complicated than that, but that simple phrase is a hundred times more in line with God's answer than the first one.)

When someone tells me that everything happens for a reason, I ask them what was the reason why 6 million Jews had to die in the Holocaust. Not surprisingly, they usually don't have an answer.\

By the way Speedo. When was the last time I told you that I always appreciate your postings?

 

[Guy-jin]

"Always do your best."

How about, "Try to do your best."

It's a subtle difference, but I don't think it's particularly destructive.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

I tend to think that it's true mentally... but I guess that depends on what kind of person you are, as well.

Or it might just be reworded as,

"We often become stronger through hardship."

Acknowledged.

When I reflect on the serious motor vehicle accidents I was involved in I can't think of a single element of those experiences that left me stronger or wiser. I was damaged physically, leaving me less capable of living life to the degree I once had. The scars visible on my body opened me up to ridicule and thoughtless editorializing. Nor do I think I emerged any mentally stronger...possibly quite the opposite. Traumatic flashbacks to those events sometimes awaken me from a deep sleep and leave me shuddering in my bed. Nor did I emerge more grateful for what health I possessed (prior to accidents I was always grateful for the health I possessed).

Certainly it is possible to learn and grow through hardship but I don't see it as an automatic outcome. As JA put it, hardship might just as easily ruin as improve.

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

One I love, but which is true is - You can't polish a turd

 

[Not_Punny]

SP -- this is the SECOND time you've made me go eeewwwww tonight. I'll have to go get a beer.

There, that's better.

I believe that in POLITE circles, they say: "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." :biggrin1:

Although I have to admit yours is more graphic!

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

When I'm doing embroidery I stick to the better known version hotmilf

 

[Not_Punny]

I knew you collected thimbles for a reason. :tongue:

- - - - - -

And then there's: Necessity is the mother of invention. That's only sometimes true.

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

Now you haven't been paying attention, I've mentioned what I collect several times and it makes thimble collecting look positively sane