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TO SEE A MAN ABOUT A DOG
This old saying first appeared in 1866 in a play by Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) called the Flying Scud in which a character makes the excuse that he is going ‘to see a man about a dog’ to get away.
STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT
This phrase comes from the days when blacksmiths lifted iron objects from the furnace and hammered it. They could only hammer the object into shape while the iron was hot, before it cooled down.
‘A watched pot never boils
<p class=”meanings-body”>A watched pot never boils’ is one of the homely and improving proverbs that is ascribed to Poor Richard, which was the pseudonym that Benjamin Franklin used when publishing his widely popular annual almanac. Franklin, a tireless and industrious polymath, was fixated on such improving aphorisms and published numerous of them in the guise of Poor Richard between 1732 and 1758. The general theme of the proverbs can be summed up as ‘Industry: good; sloth: bad’. They include:</p><p class=”meanings-body”>There are no gains without pains.
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Plough deep while sluggards sleep and you shall have corn to sell and to keep.
Have you something to do tomorrow? Do it today.</p>
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