PROVERBS AND RIDDLE

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
Students are expected able to know, understand, and use proverbs in their spoken and
written communication.

LEARN ABOUT IT!

Dr Bougher knows a lot about the forest. In the clip, he spent a lot of time
describing where things are.

The transcript of the video:

On our left here, we have a very good example of the jarrah forest, the
famous jarrah forest of Western Australia.
And on our right here, we have the contrast, which is the mined area, and on
this area we can see that rehabilitation has occurred about three years ago. This
is world’s best practice.
Our jarrah forest is our reference point, it’s our library of information, this is
our baseline, this is what we had before we mined. I think some of the outward
signs are showing us that it’s quite healthy.
The proof in the pudding is not you and I sitting here today, but the proof of
the pudding might be in ten year’s time, twenty year’s time – whether this forest
is flourishing for our children and grandchildren.
So far so good.

The speaker said “The proof in the pudding” it is a proverb. Proverbs usually use in
informal language. Its are not obvious meaning, we can understand by memorizing
them.

The proof in the pudding. Pudding is kind of food, we know its delicious or not by
tasted them. So “The proof in the pudding” It’s means that you can only judge the
quality of something after it has been tested or
experienced over time.

What are proverbs?

Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings that offer advice about how to live your life. In line
with this definition, according to www. pelajarelit.blogspot.com, proverbs are a verse or
collection of words having a fixed arrangement containing certain definitions and gives
positive suggestions.
 How can you use proverbs to learn
English?
It's good to know the really common English proverbs because you hear them come
up in conversation all the time. Sometimes people say the entire proverb to give
advice to a friend. More often, someone will say just part of a proverb like this:
You know what they say: when the going gets tough...

SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF PROVERB

 Proverb have a function to teaching, enlightening, and persuading people. Proverbs
play many roles in society. The most common role is to educate on what might
happen if they do something. A proverb contains wisdom, truth, morals, and
traditional views.
 Proverb has been and remains a most powerful and effective instrument for the
transmission of culture, social morality, manner, and ideas of a people from one
generation to another. The proverbs deal with knowledge, experience, hard work,
and human relations.
 Proverb and proverbial sayings have for centuries been equally popular with all
nations, despite their regional diversities, and clearly, for the impact the have
made.
 Proverb can be used to tech people, give them some advice, help in difficult
situations, show people what the most important thins in life, and show the proper
way in life.
 Proverbs are very often used in personal interaction.
 Proverb can also be used mock someone or criticize.

STRUCTURE OF PROVERBS
Proverbs often from clusters that share a common structure.
– Opposite parallel
– Similiar parallel
– Single statement
– Statement with an explanation
– Comparison
– Descriptive list
– Use of clause or instruction

LANGUAGE FEATURE OF PROVERBS

Proverbs use figurative language, we have analyzed what is the literal meaning in it.

Kinds of Proverbs:

1. APHORISM (PEPATAH)
This proverb offers advice.
Example : Don’t go too far in small.
(Persoalan kecil jangan dibesar-besarkan).

2. PARABLE (PERUMPAMAAN)
That has a moral lesson and has parable.
Example : To carry coals to New-castle.
 (Bagai membuang garam kelaut)

3. SLOGAN (PAMEO)
This proverb gives spirit or motivation.
Example :
 Early bird gets worm
(Tuhan akan memberikan rezeki kepada makhluk-Nya yang lebih dulu bangun)
 Diligence is the mistress of success.
(Kerajinan pangkal kesuksesan)

4. IDIOM
It is a phrase that has group of words with a different meaning from the
meaning of all the individual word.
Example :
1. Pull your sock up. (improve your behaviour)
2. You can arrange your bedroom at will. (sesuka hati)
3. Don’t mention it. (You’re welcome)
SOME OTHER EXAMPLE OF PROVERBS
1. "TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT." WHEN SOMEONE HAS DONE
SOMETHING BAD TO YOU, TRYING TO GET REVENGE WILL ONLY MAKE THINGS
WORSE.
2. "The pen is mightier than the sword." Trying to convince people with ideas
and words is more effective than trying to force people to do what you want.
3. "When in Rome, do as the Romans." Act the way that the people around
you are acting. This phrase might come in handy when you're traveling abroad
notice that people do things differently than you're used to.
4. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." You can get better service if you
complain about something. If you wait patiently, no one's going to help you.
5. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Strong people don't give
up when they come across challenges. They just work harder.
6. "No man is an island." You can't live completely independently. Everyone
needs help from other people.
7. "Fortune favors the bold." People who bravely go after what they want are
more successful than people who try to live safely.
8. "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones." Don't criticize
other people if you're not perfect yourself.
9. "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." Bad things might happen,
so be prepared.
10. "Better late than never." It's best to do something on time. But if you can't
do it on time, do it late.
11. "Birds of a feather flock together." People like to spend time with others
who are similar to them.
12. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." If you have an enemy,
pretend to be friends with them instead of openly fighting with them. That
way you can watch them carefully and figure out what they're planning.
13. "A picture is worth a thousand words." Pictures convey emotions and
messages better than written or spoken explanations. That's why Phrase-Mix
has illustrations :)
14. "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Things that are offered for free
always have a hidden cost.
15. "There's no place like home." Your own home is the most comfortable place
to be.
16. "Discretion is the greater part of valor." Sometimes it's important to know
when to give up and run away, instead of always acting brave and maybe
getting hurt.
17. "The early bird catches the worm." You should wake up and start work early
if you want to succeed.
18. "Never look a gift horse in the mouth." If someone offers you a gift, don't
question it.
19. "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." When you try to
do something great, you'll probably make a few people annoyed or angry.
Don't worry about those people; just focus on the good results.
20. "God helps those who help themselves." Don't just wait for good things to
happen to you. Work hard to achieve your goals.
21. "You can't always get what you want." Don't whine and complain if you don't
get what you wanted.
22. "Cleanliness is next to godliness." Be clean. God likes that.
23. "A watched pot never boils." If something takes time to finish, don't watch
it too closely because it will seem like it's taking forever.
24. "Beggars can't be choosers." If you're asking for a favor from someone else,
you have to take whatever they give you.

RIDDLE
A riddle is a type of poetry that describes something without actually naming
what it is, leaving the reader to guess. It is a light hearted type of poetry which
involves the reader. Riddles can be about anything, from riddles about animals
to riddle about objects. There are no rules on how to structure a riddle poem,
a riddle can be funny or it can rhyme, it depends on the person writing the
riddle.

EXAMPLE :
1. It’s an animal. It’s an orange black. It has stripes. It has four paws. It lives in the jungle.
What is it? It is a tiger.
2. I have three eyes, all in a row. When the red one opens, all freeze. I am traffic light.
3. Example of Rhyming Riddle
I come in different style.
I can help you walk for miles.
Come in pair
I’m something what you wear
With heels I’m glam
Can you guest what I am?
I am a shoes.

SOCIAL FUNCTION OF RIDDLE

A riddle is a statement, question, or phrase that has a double meaning. It is an amusing game
for children and adults. Today riddle aren’t used as much as they were in ancient times, but
they remain a definite way to get your mind working.

 When someone uses a riddle, it can be a thought provoking challenge to figure

it out on your own, or it can be a funny comment that makes you laugh. Riddles
can be great brain busters or conversation starters to get you think. Riddle games
have been played since times, and are still being played today.
 Riddles have significant roles. They include roles that may be described as
cultural, educative, intellectual, ideological, cosmological, and political. Riddles
teach logic about the social and cultural environment, social norms, history,
biology, and much more.
  Riddles can help in memory training for children as they are expected and
encourage to remember the correct answers to the riddles. Riddles also can help
to introduce a variety of vocabularies. They also provide opportunities to play
phonetic, morphological, grammatical, and semantic games as they exhibit a
variety of linguistic expressions and structure.
In conclusion, riddles have a role in the education of communities and in development of
analytical thinking lies the fact that the answer to the riddle is already known to the audience.

STRUCTURE OF RIDDLE
Riddle have no form set. Riddles can be a question with a quick witty answer. They can be just
a sentence that makes you have a sudden realization. We can also create riddles from words
that rhythm with a word in a riddle’s answer, other word and phrases that use the funny part
of an answer.

CHARACTERISTIC OF RIDDLE
A riddle is a verbal puzzle, an enigmatic statement, description, or question posed by one
person to another, or to a group, who have to guess the answer. We use the term loosely for
more than one kind of puzzle. However, the riddle proper relies on imagery for its effects;
often quite poetic imagery. Some riddles use pronoun “i” even though the word that should be
guessed is a thing. For example : “If you have me, you won’t to share me. If you share me, you
haven’t got me. What am i?” The answer is “a secret”.

KEY POINTS
Learning proverbs can also help you to understand the way that people in English-
speaking cultures think about the world.
Proverbs can also give you good example sentences which you can memorize and
use as models for building your own sentences.
Proverbs usually use in informal language. Its are not obvious meaning, we can
understand by memorizing them.
A riddle is a type of poetry that describes something which needs to be guessed by other
people. It can be anything which involves the readers. Riddle does not have specific
structure. It can be in the form of statements, questions, or phrases, and it can rhyme. A
riddle can be funny and challenging.

EVALUATION
Choose the best proverb for the statement below!
1. When someone has done something bad to you, trying to get revenge will
only make things worse.
a. The pen is mightier than the sword
b. Two wrongs don't make a right
c. When in Rome, do as the Romans
d. The squeaky wheel gets the grease
e. When the going gets tough, the tough get going
2. Trying to convince people with ideas and words is more effective than trying to
force people to do what you want.
a. Beggars can't be choosers
b. Cleanliness is next to godliness
c. The pen is mightier than the sword
d. When the going gets tough
e. No man is an island
3. Act the way that the people around you are acting. This phrase might come in
handy when you're traveling abroad notice that people do things differently than
you're used to.
a. When in Rome, do as the Romans
b. The squeaky wheel gets the grease
c. When the going gets tough, the tough get going
d. Fortune favors the bold
e. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones
4. You can get better service if you complain about something. If you wait patiently,
no one's going to help you.
a. When the going gets tough, the tough get going
b. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst
c. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst
d. The squeaky wheel gets the grease
e. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
5. Strong people don't give up when they come across challenges. They just work
harder.
a. When the going gets tough, the tough get going
b. No man is an island
c. A picture is worth a thousand words
d. Birds of a feather flock together
e. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst
6. You can't live completely independently. Everyone needs help from other people.
a. Fortune favors the bold
b. No man is an island
c. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones
d. Better late than never
e. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
7. There was a plane crash and every single person died. Who survived?
a. Young people
b. Elders
c. Married people
d. 4 Families
e. Pilot and staffs
8. What can fill a room but takes up no space?
a. Tables
b. Leaves
c. Lamps
d. Light
e. Clothes
9. What goes up but never goes down?
a. Age
b. Rain
c. Tree
d. Ladder
e. Lightning
10. What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
a. Treat
b. Text
c. Tourist
d. T-shirt
e. Teapot

Key Answers