Who is the person who voted for GJD on the survey? Just admit it. I need to know for the following reasons:
1) Do you really believe that the idiom is "a watched pot never boils over?"
2) Did Ross vote for himself TWICE (which would be cheating) OR
2) Did you just feel bad for Ross?
I'm not mad - just . . . intrigued.
Also on a sidenote - when we got to talking about this idiom Ross acted as if I was the biggest idiot in the world to think that the saying really is "a watched pot never boils" - come to find out everyone agrees with me except for Ross and this no-name person who is too afraid to admit it.
16 comments:
A watched pot never boils just doesn't make any sense unless you haven't turned on any heat. If it is on a heat source, it will eventually boil. What you should be going for is "A watched pot never seems to boil quickly if you keep watching it and waiting." Maybe that explains why KTC thinks it takes me 45 minutes to make eggs. It does not. It only takes a couple of minutes, but she must clearly be "watching" the pot. Do I admit that the idiom is technically a watched pot never boils? Never!!! I voted for truth - and truth tells me that a watched pot will never boil OVER and spill all over your stove because you are there, always watching and possibly judging. I'm judging and I judge "boils over" the winner. If you agree, you can always change your vote to "boils over." Let the cautious and patient people of the world unite!!!
Oh Ross, by that rationale your saying doesn't make any sense either. Simply watching a pot will no more keep it from boiling over than it will make it boil in the first place.
If that's not enough to convince you, then check out this snippet from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that I found on Wikipedia:
"The last scene is between Data and Riker. Riker has come to give Data the updated duty roster, and finds him in the middle of an experiment. Data's recent experiences with time have led him to consider how humans perceive time. Data is testing the saying "A watched pot never boils" by boiling a kettle of water and timing it, both when he watches it closely and when he ignores it completely. When Data stipulates that he cannot observe time any differently than his internal chronometer, Riker advises him to turn it off, since people do not have internal chronometers. When Data says he will try it, Riker jokingly amends, "Just don't be late for your shift!" After Commander Riker leaves the room, Data turns and notices that the water is boiling."
If that doesn't convince your inner nerd, I don't know what will.
Oh Todd, true confessions, I have seen that episode of Star Trek, actually I have seen every single one of those Next Generation episodes. And if they come on cable now a days I watch them still. Leave it to Data to really make our human idiom's not make sense. Just as this argument between KTC and Ross does not make sense. Everyone knows that KT is right now if Ross could just swallow his pride and admit it, I believe we would all be in a happier place.
Truth tells me that just because a pot is being watched, it will still eventually boil AND it will still eventually boil over. Truth also tells me that the idiom is in fact "a watched pot never boils." Just yesterday, when I was making pasta and had my timing all wrong with the sauce I was making, I was anxiously watching the pot to see if it had started boiling, and it seemed as if it took three times as long to boil. And if that doesn't convince you, maybe all the idiom dictionaries on the internet will. Poor Ross and no-name person. Don't worry, someday we'll all look back on this and laugh. Actually, I'm even looking at this today and am laughing.
Here is what everyone is missing, just because the general public chooses a crap idiom does not mean that everyone has to accept it as truth. Ross has his reasons, I have mine. A watched pot will boil - I seen it.
AND, I voted twice.
Dear Idiom Power Ross,
Bless you for your sympathy. But you are ruining the integrity of this vote!
I worry about Idiom Power Ross and his (or her) grammatical skills. Part of being an accepted member of civilized society is following and repeating commonly known idioms correctly as well as using the English language appropriately. Who taught you to think "I seen" is good grammar? Honestly, the educational system in this country is appalling.
http://www.xkcd.com/357/
What the freak is going on here? There is no way...NO WAY...that there are 4 people on the planet that believe the saying is "a watched pot never boils over". I think whoever has voted with Ross needs to be out and proud about it and state your name for the record. Otherwise we just can't take your ridiculous vote seriously.
I'm concerned about Ross--I'm concerned that he's going to be at an important work dinner party or maybe meeting the Queen and he'll say something like, "A rolling stone constantly gathers moss." His employer or the Queen will wonder if they made a mistake inviting him to their dinner party. Ross--you may just have to conform to the cliches of the rest of the civilized world. I do NOT want you to miss out on the opportunity to try on the Queen's crown. That just doesn't come around very often.
Lindy, that had better not be a veiled jab at me.
I find this debate fascinating –- and after much contemplation, here's what I've come up with. As with many of the great philosophical and legal debates of our time, the answer depends on how we frame the question. If we are asking which is a scientifically true statement "a watched pot never boils" or "a watched pot never boils over," then, of course, the answer is the latter. Similarly, if we're asking what phrase is idiomatic for "be careful" or "paying attention to what you're doing is the best way to prevent an accident," then, again, I'd say "a watched pot never boils" is your answer. If, however, you are asking what phrase do we use to say, "be patient" or "if you obsessively wait for something it will take forever to happen, so just put things in motion and let them unfold as they will" – which, I will note, is the most common usage of this particularly metaphor – then the answer is clearly "a watched pot never boils." Generations of mothers and grandmothers have used that phrase in that way and find it to be generally a good idea to side with generations of mothers and grandmothers–except, of course, on the issue of the beehive hair-do, although that didn't really last generations (thank goodness).
Jaacen - thanks for the comic. Very funny and random that you found that. I feel the same way. Saying that a watched pot will never boil is really just a lie. So I hope all of you are happy who voted for lying. It makes me wonder how you vote in actual elections. Some members of our family don't feel the need to vote at all. I'm not mentioning any names, but she should get ready to vote in November.
Greg- I hope you aren't talking about me, because that's just rude to call me out like that. People can change you know. Besides, how do you even know that I didn't or don't vote? I just haven't been registered anywhere because I have a Utah license and not a Utah address. So where can I vote? I have been paying attention this year, and I'm about sick of hearing about it all. That makes me not want to vote. But a watched pot will boil, it just seems to take forever, now a watched pot will never boil over? That I can say is mostly often true, unless you are watching and then space out or something. So a watched pot never boils over, that's a great saying! Kind of like "mind like a steel truck (not trap)."
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