American Adages and Values
2006-09-21
The following exercise examines American adages and the values behind them. This gives us insight as to what we as Americans hold important in light of how other cultures may react.
A Sampling of American Adages and Their Corresponding Values
“A penny saved is a penny earned” (Benjamin Franklin) — Saving money is a virtue; squandering money is no good.
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” — When we are a minority is in a particular group, we should emulate what they do.
“Time is money” — Time is a valuable resource we should not squander.
“There is no time like the present” — Procrastination is not a virtue.
“Beating a dead horse” — Repetition is a bad thing.
“God helps those who help themselves” (Benjamin Franklin) — We need to be independent, hard working people to be virtuous.
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” — What has been accomplished is what counts.
“You can’t have your cake and eat it too” — One cannot have diametric opposites at the same time.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” — It is an admirable quality to go against the trends in society and do something difficult or risky for the sake of living a life above mediocrity.
“Starving people in China” — Food should not be wasted since not all people have an abundance of food.
“Indian giver” — Once you give a gift, it is expected that you will not ask for it to be returned.
“You are what you eat” — A healthy diet is important in living a healthy life.
“A dime a dozen” — Something without any value.
“Patience is a virtue” — Self-explanatory.
Values As Positive or Negative
Positive or negative: “A penny saved is a penny earned” is a good phrase because we are stewards of the money God gave us. Squandering money on useless matters is not a good thing. At the same time, this can be taken to an extreme if we are hoarding money, for we cannot serve both God and mammon.
Positive or Negative: “When in Rome do as the Romans do” would be a positive phrase if we were going to another culture. One should be sensitive to other cultures and use their language if/when necessary. At the same time, the other extreme is pretending to be something that you are not, or sacrificing Biblical values in order to connect with a non-Biblical aspect of their culture.
Positive or Negative: “Time is money” is similar to Franklin’s “penny saved” quotation. We are stewards of the time God gives us, but we also sometimes need to take extra time in order to rest or maintain focus on God.
Positive: “There is no time like the present” is a positive phrase since procrastination is never a virtue at all.
Positive or negative: “Beating a dead horse” is a phrase that also could go either way. Sometimes repetition does not help learning something when something is readily apparent. Nonetheless, God uses repetition throughout His Word to make things clear. He mentions the sins and the consequences of sin of Israel in the Hebrew Bible repetitively to tell us something not easily learned: we keep sinning over and over again.
Positive or Negative: “God helps those who help themselves” can be a positive or negative phrase. Working to obtain God’s favor or provision is not a part of any aspect of salvation. However, if we do not work to support ourselves to make a living, there will be consequences. “This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Positive: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” is a cliché, but it is also very true. What one really accomplishes is more important than idle ambition, cf. James 4:13-14: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
Positive: “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” is a phrase with a positive value. It is true: you cannot eat a cake and expect it to still be there. You cannot trust in Christ and then expect to live your own way, forgetting who He is.
Positive or Negative: The famous poem “The Road Less Traveled” has become a proverb for our society. Difficult paths to follow in life are admirable, especially for the cause of Christ or the benefit of others. At the same time, there are paths that people choose that are not good, either.
Positive: “Starving people in China” suggests that we should not waste food. There is no good reason to waste food that God has provided for us, though we do it occasionally anyway.
Negative: “Indian giver” suggests that one ought not promise something as a gift and then rescind that offer. This is not a good quality about a person. However, the phrase itself should not be used because it involves the stereotyping of a very large group of people.
Positive: “You are what you eat” implies that the value of eating healthy is important.
Negative: “A dime a dozen” implies that something does not have any value.
Positive: “Patience is a virtue” is a self-evident statement that is clearly a positive value.
How Other Cultures Will Interpret These Values
Different cultures will respond to different values differently. The proverbs concerning money stress that our culture is very money-centered, which, when taken to extremes, is indeed a problem. A value exhibited by “when in Roman...” would be appreciated by a culture when a person from another culture consciously attempts to adapt to their way of thinking. In an easy-going culture, procrastination may be quite acceptable, so phrases such as “time is money” and “there is no time like the present” may be a turn off. In a culture that has a very low view of God, one may use “God helps those who help themselves” as a declaration that God does not work, so you have to do everything yourself to survive.