
ProverbPerseverance
English origin1659
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Meaning: Relentless labor without leisure deadens the mind and spirit, diminishing one's vitality and capacity for joy.
Origin: First recorded in James Howell's collection of proverbs (1659). "Jack" is any ordinary lad, and the saying defends the need for rest and amusement. Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining (1980) gave it a sinister afterlife, as the single sentence a novelist types over and over as he loses his mind.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal. A relentless run on the 'tr' sound.
- Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz. The German 'f' / 'sch' staple.
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