You rarely hear classic “old sayings” anymore unless spoken by…well, someone old. I sure miss them! For some reason I can complete almost any old saying spoken. I believe it’s a reflection on my parents who both read voraciously and continually passed their pearls of wisdom to me. After my dad retired at sixty-two his only hobby became reading. I’m not exaggerating when I report that my dad read between two and five books a week, every week. He would go to the Torrance Library once a week and return home with seven to ten books. My mother compared herself to my dad and believed she was a slow reader since she only read between one and three books a week. Of course she did all of the cooking, cleaning and shopping allowing less time for reading. She also did the New York Times Crossword Puzzle most days and at the tender age of seven introduced me to Scrabble. When I would misspell a relatively easy word on the board she would scold me. “Peter Whalon how could you misspell that word? Don’t they teach you anything in school?” I would laugh and shake it off; however, I rarely missed the same word twice. Although I don’t believe they realized just how knowledgeable they were, both my parents were as sharp as a whip (there’s a golden oldie for you). I believe the first time I realized just how smart my dad was occurred during our initial playing of the game Trivial Pursuit. He answered every question correctly (the original version of the game) in the categories of geography, history and science & nature and art & literature. Although he had difficulties in the sports & leisure category he still dominated most contests. When I was teamed with him we never lost since I was a sports nut and excelled in pop culture.
That brings me to your pop quiz for today. I’m guessing the older you are the better you will do on this exercise. I’m sure my pen pal buddy, Ben, who I believe reads my stuff each week, will get all thirty of these correct. I will further predict that the mind-numbed millennial zombies (is that too harsh?) will do extremely poorly. For anyone under thirty years old who scores twenty or higher please congratulate your parents for me. Fill in the missing words. Correct answers are directly below. For those who score fifteen or less, get your butt off of Facebook and twitter and read a book once in a while, you just might like it!
1-10: A bigger bang for…A bird in the hand is worth two… A chain is only as strong as its … A diamond in the…A dog is man’s…A drop in the…A fate worse…A feather in…A fly in the…A fool and his money are…
1-10: Your buck–in the bush–weakest link—rough–best friend–bucket—than death-one’s cap–ointment—soon parted.
11-20: A foregone…A friend in need is…A house divided against itself…A knight in…A leopard cannot…A man after my…A man who is his own lawyer has a…A miss is as good…A picture is worth…A pig in a…
11-20: Conclusion—a friend indeed—cannot stand—shining amour—change its spots— own heart—fool for a client—as a mile—a thousand words—poke.
21-30: A place for everything and everything in… A rolling stone… A skeleton in… A sight for… A watched pot… A wolf in… A woman’s place…According to…All that glitters…As busy as…
21-30: Its place—gathers no moss—the closet—sore eyes—never boils—sheep’s clothing—is in the home (sorry ladies, I couldn’t resist)—Hoyle—is not gold—a bee.
I believe one of the essential qualities rapidly vanishing in today’s electronic maelstrom is the thirst for knowledge. With answers to all questions literally at our fingertips complacency runs rampant. Remember, wisdom is easy to carry but difficult…
A little tip from a wise old man who once said “everything in…”
Tags…As fit as a …: As happy as a…: Barking up the…: Beauty is in the…:
There’s an old saying that goes something like this: The more you know the more you grow;
