Ne'er cast thy coat away, ‘til it be the end of May.

I remember as a kid, Mum and Dad reciting the well-worn and much reliant herders’ truism:

‘A red sky at night is a Shephards’ delight.
A red sky in the morning is a Shepherd’s warning.’

Dad in particular was very fond of the ever-inspiring:

‘There’s no time like the present.’

And:

‘Tomorrow, the day that never comes.’

Though these sayings were repeated like skipping records, I have trouble denying that ‘truer words were ever spoken’. So when I had a new saying come my way today, I thought that it was best not ‘let sleeping dogs lie’, but to rattle that cage and tell the world.

As I was sitting in my stiflingly over-heated, under-insulated office in London it began to snow. I’d been allowing ‘the devil to find work for my idle hands’ through procrastination (‘that thief of time’) while gazing dreamily out our office window. I was just resting.

To my stark surprise small white flakes had begun to descend from London’s stiflingly low, off-white clouds, and as they sauntered southward I thought to myself: “This can’t be right? It was 16 degrees (c) last week! I didn’t bring my waterproof coat today!”

Hmph. ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail’.

I’m aware that ‘that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’ but this thing was fast becoming a serious snow storm! Heavy rice-like confetti was soon plummeting toward the earth, only to be scooped, separated and chased around the sky like a hover of trout by the menacing, icy winds.

“Ne’er cast thy coat away, ‘til it be the end of May,” chanted Barbara, my well-versed English boss.

Stop! That’s a new one, I thought. But not so new to the UK as it was for me. Apparently this good advice has been circulating since the 1800s. Having said that, how come I didn’t know that? I’m sure I’d heard some variation or the likes somewhere in my travels. But perhaps I’m just an unusual case. It would have been good to know earlier.

These thoughts led me to question how ingrained these proverbial sayings were in our common cultures. I know I tend to pull a few out occasionally, but do I really use them in the right contexts? Should I be taking many of them as literally as I do? Of course, I’d never asked because it was ‘better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt’. Or was it?

I guess it’s an interesting query given our vastly changing languages. Will the old sayings evolve with the technology and time?

Could we soon be saying:

A text at night means the weather’s alright.

Or:

Use and Apple each day, it keeps the virus’s at bay.

I s’pose we can only ‘roll with the punches’ and know that ‘if you can’t beat em, join em.’ ‘It’s no use stressing over spilt milk’ (slight adaptation there).

Just remember: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’

What the hell does that mean!?