To add to this topic, I googled "McGuffy's Reader" but the search results weren't that satisfactory. Try it yourself if you wish. To summarize, a McGuffy's Reader was the standard book to teach all Americans how to read from about 1815 on. In that process they also taught what it meant to be an American since everyone but the Indians were immigrants from somewhere <g>. That book is also where the common traditional proverbs in the US come from. For example:
TRADITIONAL PROVERBS:
A barking dog never bites.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A fool and his money are soon parted.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A new broom sweeps clean.
A nod's as good as a wink to a blind man. (e.g., it doesn't make any
difference what you do -- they don't know!)
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
A stitch in time saves nine.
A watched pot never boils.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
All that glitters is not gold
As you sow, so you shall reap.
Bad news travels quickly.
Beauty is only skin deep.
Better late than never.
better safe than sorry
Birds of a feather flock together.
Chickens will come home to roost.
The cream always rises.
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
Don't cry over spilt milk.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Don't spit into the wind.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Every cloud has a sliver lining.
God helps those who help themselves.
Half a loaf is better than no bread.
He laughs best that laughs last.
He who hesitates is lost.
He who laughs last laughs best.
Hunger is the best sauce.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
Let sleeping dogs lie.
look before you leap
Make hay while the sun shines
Might makes right.
Money makes the mare go.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
One rotten apple spoils the barrel.
One swallow doesn't make a summer.
Opposites attract.
Out of sight, out of mind.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Practice makes perfect.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Still waters run deep.
the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry
The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.
The early bird catches the worm.
The end justifies the means.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
The longest journey begins with a single step.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Two heads are better than one.
Waste not, want not.
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
What goes around, comes around.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
where there's smoke, there's fire
Whistling girls and crowing hens always come to some bad ends.
Who holds the purse rules the house.
You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
The one thing to be said for it was that it was a unifying force for a rapidly changing culture.
I've been following the Tour de France on OLN daily. Two of the broadcasters are American (Bob Roll and Al Trautwig) and two are British (Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggit). One of the teams is called "LIQUIGAS - BIANCHI" after its sponsors.
My tendency would be to call it liquid gas (li-quid as in the money), but the Brits consistently call it "leaky gas". Is that a common name for propane in the UK? Now the American's are calling it leaky too.
Artemis
