Now , the VOA Sepcial Englsih Words and their stories.
Today we talk about proverbs. A proverb is a short, well known saying that express a common truth or belief. Proverb are found in most cultures and are often very old.
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In American history, Benjamin Frakon was famous for his proverbs. Fanklin live in seventenn hundreds. He was a leader of American revolution against English rule. He was also a scientist, inventor and writer.
For many years , Fraklin publish a book call " Poor Richard's Almanac."He included many proverbs that he heard or created. Some of them are still used today. Like this one " early to bed and early to rise make a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Franklin are also remember for the other proverbs like," A penny saved is a penny earned." This means that money should not be wasted.
Here are the other example of proverbs that Americans use. The first one are about love. Some people say, "All is fair in love and war."That means anything you do in a relationship or in battle is acceptable.
Another proverb about love is" Absence make the heart grow fonder." This means that you love someone even more when he or she is far away. But other people say, " Out of sight, out of mind". You may not even think about that person when he or she is not with you. Which of these proverbs do you think is more true?
Another proverb says " love is blind." In other words, when you are in love with someone, you may refuse to see anything bad about that person.
He is another proverb saying about love:" The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Some people belive that a women can win a man's love if shre prepares his favorite food.
Some people are only interesting in having a relationship with someone who is very good-looking.You might tell them that" Beauty is only skin deep." You girlfriend may be lovely to look at, but she may also has some bad qualities. Or the opposite may be true . You boyfriend may be a wonderful person, but not good-looking. So what a person look like is not really important.
Another proverb is true in love and war or other situations: " Actions speak lounder than words." It means that what you do is more important than what you say.
Sadly, we have no more time for this program. So we must say," All good things must come to an end.