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7 Common Proverbs that Need a Modern-day Tweak

With my sometimes controversial suggested changes

Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi
6 min readDec 16, 2022
Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Proverbs have been a part of every language for decades and centuries and the English language has no shortage of these either.

As someone who speaks three languages and partially understands maybe a couple more, it seems to me that proverb or idiom usage in English is rather more frequent than in the other (admittedly few) languages that I know.

Yet, many of these proverbs to me seem a bit incomplete or inaccurate or perhaps based on conventions that no longer fit the modern world.

Here’s my take on a few that can definitely do with some form of an update to fit the modern mindset.

#1 — Beggars can’t be choosers

This one almost plays to the desperation of someone and essentially indicates that below a minimum threshold of means, you can’t really have a choice in things.

If you haven’t got much saved in your bank account, you don’t get to choose what job you take — you should take any that come your way.

If you don’t have luck historically attracting a partner, you should just jump on anyone who’s willing to give you a look.

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Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi
Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi

Written by Pranshu "Maverick" Dwivedi

Stay-at-home-dad who "retired" from a 12-year career in finance at the age of 35. Curious thinker with an opinion on nearly everything and is here to share it.

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