Shy bairns get noot
Meaning: Children who don't speak up miss opportunities because adults cannot know their needs or talents.
Origin: A saying from North East England, where "bairns" means children and "noot" or "nowt" means nothing: shy children get nothing. It is the Geordie form of "if you don't ask, you don't get."
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Snitches get stitches — Informing authorities invites violent retaliation from those you've betrayed.
- Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind — Reckless or harmful actions return with amplified destructive consequences, not proportio…
- Tall oaks from little acorns grow — Small beginnings accumulate into significant achievements through time and consistent dev…
- That's the way the mop flops — When circumstances fall unpredictably, accept them without complaint rather than resist i…
- The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on — Indifferent to critics' noise, those with purpose continue their journey undeterred.
- The game is not worth the candle — Pursuing a goal costs more in effort or money than any benefit you'll actually gain from…
From our tongue twisters
- Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego. — Every word starts with k, and król/Karol/korale/koloru keep re-ordering the same handful…
- Czy rak trzyma w szczypcach strzęp szczawiu? — Four different Polish sibilant clusters — trz, szcz, strz, szcz — in a single short quest…
- Ząb, zupa zębowa; dąb, zupa dębowa. — Drills the nasal vowels ą and ę, which only differ from plain a and e by the nasal hum.