Say What? The proof of the pudding is in the eating / Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs
In this week's Say What? our two sayings are both food related but are very different in their meanings. To help demonstrate their use I'll be using characters from Person of Interest in my examples.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating
The most commonly used definition for 'proof' today relates to 'verification, proving to be true', but the way it's used in our first saying is in the 'test' of something. This ties into the fact that this phrase is about how "appearances can be deceptive", similar to "All that glitters is not gold". It should also be noted that 'pudding' refers to any dessert in the UK, as well as some savoury dishes, and not just a creamy dessert as in the United States. So the meaning is really that the true test of a recipe is when it is eaten. It might look fabulous, but that doesn't mean it's going to taste very good.
The first recognizable use of our first saying is from W. Camden's 1623 work Remains concerning Britain, which says:
All the proofe of a pudding, is in the eating.
However, my Dictionary of Proverbs lists a related phrase from Eets' circa 1300 work King Alisaunder, which says:
Jt is ywrite that euery thing Hymself sheweth in the tastyng
So the concept of something demonstrating itself to be good only when it's actually tested has been around for a good 700 years.
So how do you use something like this when you're writing? As you would with other expressions about appearances being deceiving, you need a scenario where something has to be tested. For example:
"It seems quiet," Fusco said after they'd been standing for a few minutes. "Do you think your contact is really there?"
"I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating," Carter responded. "Let's go."
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs
While related to our first saying in the food sense, pudding versus eggs, this phrase isn't about testing whether something is any good but is a caution about offering advice to someone who is wiser and more experienced. We can see the first use of the saying in Stevens Quevedo's Comical Works from 1707:
You would have me teach my Grandame to suck Eggs.
By 1967 the saying was included in Ridout and Witting's English Proverbs Explained as:
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
Finding a way to use this in your own stories shouldn't be terribly difficult.
Finch sat for a minute as their latest client repeatedly failed to bypass the security of his office computer. Frustrated, he grabbed the keyboard away and started typing, gaining access in seconds. "You can't teach your grandmother to suck eggs," he stated on seeing the shocked expression he received following his efforts.
Of course, in researching this, my favourite version of the saying is from the 1882 work Christowell by Blackmore, which says:
A ... twinkle, which might have been interpreted -- 'instruct your grandfather in the suction of gallinaceous products'.
To wrap this up, while these sayings might have something in common because they're food related, that doesn't mean that they're the same thing. So make sure that you're only putting your desserts to the test when you're talking about something that is potentially deceptive, and don't confuse that with offering unnecessary advice to those who are wiser than you.
Sources
Simpson, John and Speake, Jennifer, A Dictionary of Proverbs, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Taggert, Caroline, An Apple a Day, Readers Digest, 2011.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating
The most commonly used definition for 'proof' today relates to 'verification, proving to be true', but the way it's used in our first saying is in the 'test' of something. This ties into the fact that this phrase is about how "appearances can be deceptive", similar to "All that glitters is not gold". It should also be noted that 'pudding' refers to any dessert in the UK, as well as some savoury dishes, and not just a creamy dessert as in the United States. So the meaning is really that the true test of a recipe is when it is eaten. It might look fabulous, but that doesn't mean it's going to taste very good.
The first recognizable use of our first saying is from W. Camden's 1623 work Remains concerning Britain, which says:
All the proofe of a pudding, is in the eating.
However, my Dictionary of Proverbs lists a related phrase from Eets' circa 1300 work King Alisaunder, which says:
Jt is ywrite that euery thing Hymself sheweth in the tastyng
So the concept of something demonstrating itself to be good only when it's actually tested has been around for a good 700 years.
So how do you use something like this when you're writing? As you would with other expressions about appearances being deceiving, you need a scenario where something has to be tested. For example:
"It seems quiet," Fusco said after they'd been standing for a few minutes. "Do you think your contact is really there?"
"I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating," Carter responded. "Let's go."
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs
While related to our first saying in the food sense, pudding versus eggs, this phrase isn't about testing whether something is any good but is a caution about offering advice to someone who is wiser and more experienced. We can see the first use of the saying in Stevens Quevedo's Comical Works from 1707:
You would have me teach my Grandame to suck Eggs.
By 1967 the saying was included in Ridout and Witting's English Proverbs Explained as:
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
Finding a way to use this in your own stories shouldn't be terribly difficult.
Finch sat for a minute as their latest client repeatedly failed to bypass the security of his office computer. Frustrated, he grabbed the keyboard away and started typing, gaining access in seconds. "You can't teach your grandmother to suck eggs," he stated on seeing the shocked expression he received following his efforts.
Of course, in researching this, my favourite version of the saying is from the 1882 work Christowell by Blackmore, which says:
A ... twinkle, which might have been interpreted -- 'instruct your grandfather in the suction of gallinaceous products'.
To wrap this up, while these sayings might have something in common because they're food related, that doesn't mean that they're the same thing. So make sure that you're only putting your desserts to the test when you're talking about something that is potentially deceptive, and don't confuse that with offering unnecessary advice to those who are wiser than you.
Sources
Simpson, John and Speake, Jennifer, A Dictionary of Proverbs, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Taggert, Caroline, An Apple a Day, Readers Digest, 2011.