The popular understanding of these sayings is unfaithful to the actual original statement. I'm told that getting even as many as three right is an accomplishment. But of course all of us are accomplished, correct?

1. Pride goeth before ________.
2. To ________ the lily.
3. A little ________ is a dangerous thing.
4. A penny for your ________.
5. Music hath charms to soothe a ________.
6. Imitation is the sincerest ________ flattery.
7. Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no ________.
8. Give him an inch, he'll take ________.
9. Variety's the ________ of life.
10. ________ is the root of all evil.
11. Water, water, everywhere, ________ drop to drink.
12. I only regret that I have but ________ for my country.

Answers in a few days, including the sources.

Edited Jan. 18: answers are found here.

[This message was edited by Hic et ubique on Sun Jan 18th, 2004 at 9:56.]

Without looking them up, here's my take:

1. a fall.
2. paint
3. learning
4. thoughts
5. savage breast
6. form of
7. lies
8. a mile
9. spice
10. The love of money
11. nor any a
12. ??? Not heard this one. Presumably it's American.

8. (alternate form) "Give him an inch and he thinks he's a ruler."

[This message was edited by jerry thomas on Fri Jan 16th, 2004 at 23:50.]

I suspect trick questions throughout but here goes:

quote:

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Originally posted by Hic et ubique:
1. Pride goeth before a fall.
2. "To gild the lily" is the common phrase today but I believe the original source will have "gilt," an older form of the same word.
3. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Drink deeply from the (something) spring or soon your ass will be in a sling." (I'm paraphrasing there.)
4. "A penny for your thoughts" (although any noun will work. I like "A penny for your hat.")
5. "Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast" (usually misquoted as "beast," I think.)
6. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (This one seems pretty straightforward. My favorite variation is by pianist and famed neurotic Oscar Levant: "Imitation is the sincerest form of plagiarism.")
7. Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies.
8. Give him an inch, he'll take a mile.
9. Variety's the spice of life. (These last four were way too easy thereby ensuring that I am probably 0-4 with them.)
10. The desire for money is the root of all evil. (not just the money itself)
11. Water, water, everywhere, and narry a drop to drink. (said of, I believe, sea water from the point of view of a sailor - ubiquitous but undrinkable)
12. I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country. (supposedly the last words of American Revolutionary War patriot Nathan Hale before being hanged as a spy although I believe his actual last words were something far less catchy, something along the lines of "It is the duty of every soldier to follow the orders of his officers.")

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I've seen many of these before (by which I mean that I'm aware that the obvious answers to these are all wrong.)
Because I know most of them I'll PT my answers rather than deprive CJ of the pleasure of such a low score.
(I make it one, two if you give him 10 because it has the right sentiment though the wrong wording, three if the last one is right because I've never heard it and don't know.)


A couple of them I haven't seen in anything other than the obvious (and wrong) answers.

Nice little quiz you have here hic.

Every silver lining has a cloud.
Read all about my travels around the world here.
Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog.

[This message was edited by BobHale on Fri Jan 16th, 2004 at 16:38.]

I will take all of Arnie's and number 12 is "one life to lose."

Ignoring the ones where the answers I have are the obvious ones, and therefore wrong:

1. destruction [there's more to the quote after that]
2. paint
3. learning
8. ell
10. The love of money
11. nor any
12. one life to lose

1. Pride goeth before __a fall______.

2. To ________ the lily. To gild refined gold or to _paint__ the lily. Shakespeare

3. A little __learning______ is a dangerous thing.

4. A penny for your __thoughts_____.

5. Music hath charms to soothe a ____savage breast____. Shakespeare

6. Imitation is the sincerest __form of______ flattery.

7. Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no __lies______. Keep your mouth shut, and you'll catch no flies.

8. Give him an inch, he'll take ____a mile____.


9. Variety's the ________ of life.
"Variety is the spice of life," said Tom, indifferently. Tom Jones

10. ___For the love of money_____ is the root of all evil. from the Bible

11. Water, water, everywhere, __nor any______ drop to drink. Thackeray ? "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

12. I only regret that I have but __one life to give______ for my country. Patrick Henry

Tinman

quote:

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
I will take all of Arnie's and number 12 is "one life to lose."

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Hmmmm... I think that proves the truth of No. 6!

BTW, Tinman, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

[This message was edited by arnie on Sat Jan 17th, 2004 at 0:24.]

OK then, I will post mine her, slightly edited from mu original post.

1. destruction
2. paint
3. learning
4. I suspect it isn't going to be "thoughts" but I don't know what it is.
5. savage breast
6. of
7. I don't know. I know a very similar quote from Kipling that ends in "a lie" but I'm sure it's worded differently (though I haven't looked it up to check.)

Edited to add :- on second thoughts maybe that's the answer, tell you no lie (not lies)

8 I don't know, possibly "yard" rather than "mile" but then again I might be off completely with that.
9. very spice
10. the love of money
11. nor any
12. I've never heard this one so I can't even guess.

Every silver lining has a cloud.
Read all about my travels around the world here.
Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog.

Or alternatively

1. Pride goeth before __priest in the dictionary___.
2. To _euphemistically water___ the lily.
3. A little ___hand grenade____ is a dangerous thing.
4. A penny for your ____coin collection____.
5. Music hath charms to soothe a ___pop idol judge_____.
6. Imitation is the sincerest ____way to the copyright court.
7. Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no ___government policies_____.
8. Give him an inch, he'll take ___a surgical extension_____.
9. Variety's the ____music hall____ of life.
10. ___Mankind_____ is the root of all evil.
11. Water, water, everywhere, ____but no Budweiser____drop to drink.
12. I only regret that I have but ____taxes____ for my country.

Every silver lining has a cloud.
Read all about my travels around the world here.
Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog.

My goodness! Arnie corrects Tinman on Coleridge and I get to do likewise on Patrick Henry. (I express surprise here since both Arnie and Tinman have reputations for near-flawlessness while I, admittedly, most of the time just blurt out whatever happens to be floating on the top of my head.)

#12 is definitely the Nathan Hale quote, really the only thing he's known for today and, of course, it's wrong. Patrick Henry was the one to proclaim "Give me liberty or give me a good reason why not, dammit!"


And, along similar lines, may I add a #13:

When Paul Revere made his famous ride, the warning he called out was "_______________"

C J, wasn't it Patrick Henry who said, "I care not what drugs others may take, but as for me, give me Librium or give me meth !" ???

quote:

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CJ: And, along similar lines, may I add a #13:

When Paul Revere made his famous ride, the warning he called out was "_______________"

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"The Brutish are coming! The Brutish are coming!"

quote:

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When Paul Revere made his famous ride, the warning he called out was "_______________"

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"Look out! I can't find the brakes!"

quote:

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Originally posted by C J Strolin:
My goodness! Arnie corrects Tinman on Coleridge and I get to do likewise on Patrick Henry. "

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Oh, well. Since I couldn't look anything up, I couldn't check my sources. A good source beats a bad memory every time.

Tinman

quote:

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12. I've never heard this one so I can't even guess.

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Ah, but herein lies the flaw in this quiz. Several before you had posted the answer to 12. Bob, you were just being impeccably honest!

Answers here.

Answer to #13 is there as well.