Men dream in courtship but in wedlock wake.
Meaning: Romantic idealization fades when fantasy must survive the daily realities of married life.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Stretch your legs according to your coverlet. — Live within your means; don't spend beyond what you can afford or possess.
- Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen. — Fear of exposure reveals cowardice itself—the truly brave face scrutiny without shame.
- The greatest crabs are not always the best meat. — Size alone doesn't guarantee quality; assess substance beneath surface appearances.
- He must crack the nut that would eat the kernel. — Effort and perseverance are necessary prerequisites; you cannot enjoy rewards without end…
- To a crazy ship all winds are contrary. — A disoriented mind finds obstacles everywhere, even when circumstances remain favorable.
- The worst wheel of a cart creaks most. — The most damaged or weakest part of any system draws attention and creates problems dispr…
From our tongue twisters
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- خالد خلّى خلال خاله في الخلاء. (Khālid khallā khalāl khālih fī al-khalāʾ.) — A rapid-fire 'kh' (خ) drill — the throaty fricative that non-Arabic speakers find uniquel…