English Expressions: 5 Popular English Proverbs

Hi, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on five popular

English proverbs. First, what is a proverb? Well, every culture has proverbs. They are

sayings, or wise words, or words of advice that people use in given contexts/situations.

Now, again, I mentioned that every culture has proverbs. They are culturally specific.

There are some that, you know, go across various cultures, various languages. And maybe some

or perhaps all of the ones I will look at today, you will be familiar with in your own

language. But the key is to learn it in English so that you know which verb we use with the

proverb or what the correct phrase is. So the important thing is to memorize them, because

you will hear them all the time in movies, you'll read them in books, you'll hear them

in conversations.

Let's not waste any more time, and let's start with number one.

"Actions speak louder than words."

So, this is a very common proverb across many languages. Again, in English,

it's: "Actions speak louder than words." So the important thing, again, memorize the exact

phrasing because if one word is different, some people might not understand what you

mean. So this proverb simply means actually doing something means much more than just

talking about it. If you have a friend who always talks about doing great things with

their life, but they never do anything about it, it doesn't mean anything. Their words

are meaningless. So, in this situation, I will only believe you once I see you doing

it. Actions speak louder than words.

Let's look at number two.

"Laughter is the best medicine." So, this is a proverb which

simply means that laughing makes it easier to deal with difficult situations. So if you're

having a hard time, you know, in school or you've received some sad news about someone

in your family, maybe your friend invites you to watch a comedy movie at the movie theatre,

and they say: "Come on. Laughter is the best medicine." If you're in a difficult situation,

it helps to remind you that, you know, there are good things in the world and just laugh

about it. You will feel a little bit better. So, laughter is the best medicine.

Now, let's move on to number three.

"Two wrongs don't make a right." So in this context, we

mean that revenge will not fix the problem. If someone does something to you and you want

to do something bad to them, that's not going to fix the problem. They're wrong, you're

wrong, it doesn't make it right. And it can also mean that morally bad actions-this is

a philosophical question; it's up to you to decide what is morally bad-do not justify

their results. So if you just keep doing bad things, but you're getting, let's say, a lot

of money for these bad things, those bad things don't make it right. Okay? So remember:

two wrongs don't make a right.

Now, let's move on to number four.

"Better late than never." So, this simply means exactly

what it says. It's better to do something, even if it's late, than to never do it at

all. So if you have a writing assignment at school, it's better that you finish it, obviously,

on time, but if it can't be on time, do it late because it's much better to do it late

and lose 20%, 30% than to not do it at all and to get a zero. So, better late than never.

Finally, let's look at number five. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." This simply

means that when you are in a new situation or a new place, do your best to follow the

expected customs of that situation or of that place. This is a very common expression that

people use, especially when they're on vacations. So, if you're in a new place, for example,

Paris, France, and let's say that the stereotype is people drink wine, eat baguettes with butter

and cheese, maybe that's what you want to do and say: "Okay, well, when in Rome..."

Even though you're in Paris, you still say "Rome". "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

It's also possible just to say: "When in Rome", and English speakers, most of them, will understand

that you mean: "Oh, okay, well, I guess in this situation, this is what is expected,

this is what we should do in this context."

Now, let's quickly review all five of these proverbs. Okay, so to start, we had:

"Actions speak louder than words."

It means more when you do something instead of just talk about

it. We have: "Laughter is the best medicine." which means if you're in a difficult situation

or going through a difficult time, laughing makes you feel better.

We have: "Two wrongs don't make a right."

Don't try to, you know, counter one person's bad action with another

bad action. "Better late than never." If you're going to do something, do it on time, but

if you can't do it on time, at least do it late. Do it anyway. And, finally:

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." If you're in a new situation,

a new context, a new place,

try to follow the expected customs of that place.

Again, the most important thing about these proverbs is to memorize them word-for-word.

Even if one word is off, people will say: "No, that's... That's not the saying. That's

not the proverb." So, to test your understanding, make sure that you've memorized these phrases,

you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

What's that? You want to go party? Yeah? When in Rome.