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There are twenty-one(21) well-known, historic, correct English proverbs below and one(1) that is slightly incorrect when compared to the historically correct version. Astute observers will notice that exactly 22 of the words are capitalized, which deliciously coincides with the total number of proverbs.

They have been unmercifully mixed up.

There is a total of 149 words, and all should be accounted for in the correct answer.

Your goal is to recreate the correct ones and determine what the incorrect one says.

Ready?
Set?
GO!

a the wait An lies A stones
throw king and Fortune to seldom glass
way All ribcage knowledge the ounce A
after and makes penny a run things
apple from Fish earned through prevention stick
Speak bedfellows cannot served may cure carry
the questions pen Adversity bite a big
a dangerous The A stand mightier his
deep together The flock and is man's
feather of Birds Ask cold never worth
People favours live prepared A who the
The tree little catches three Revenge houses
is feeds bite come and no house
of guests those Still softly waters thing
to that early the is bird of
than cat dish who Don't child hand
the is divided shouldn't spoil smell far
a hear pound dogs rod is days
The against falls itself strange look a
best you directly sword is a Spare
a at in Barking no worm saved
heart penny




Perhaps a CSV version is more to your liking?

a,the,wait,An,lies,A,stones,throw,king,and,Fortune,to,seldom,glass,way,All,ribcage,knowledge,the,ounce,A,after,and,makes,penny,a,run,things,apple,from,Fish,earned,through,prevention,stick,Speak,bedfellows,cannot,served,may,cure,carry,the,questions,pen,Adversity,bite,a,big,a,dangerous,The,A,stand,mightier,his,deep,together,The,flock,and,is,man's,feather,of,Birds,Ask,cold,never,worth,People,favours,live,prepared,A,who,the,The,tree,little,catches,three,Revenge,houses,is,feeds,bite,come,and,no,house,of,guests,those,Still,softly,waters,thing,to,that,early,the,is,bird,of,than,cat,dish,who,Don't,child,hand,the,is,divided,shouldn't,spoil,smell,far,a,hear,pound,dogs,rod,is,days,The,against,falls,itself,strange,look,a,best,you,directly,sword,is,a,Spare,a,at,in,Barking,no,worm,saved,heart,penny

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    $\begingroup$ I take out my ELL notebook and I start to write down... other people's answers, as I know very little about English proverbs -- though I like the random proverbs forming in your lines, like "Fish earned through prevention stick speak "Bedfellows cannot served"" :D Nice puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – LinuxBlanket
    Aug 16, 2018 at 2:53
  • $\begingroup$ @chowzen Are the all correct so far? $\endgroup$
    – Goose
    Aug 16, 2018 at 3:01
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, I didn't even realize it, but between the three answers, all 22 are found (including the (?) wrong one.) +1's to everyone! $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 16, 2018 at 3:08
  • $\begingroup$ Hmmm, I think I did something wrong with my map then ... Love the puzzle :D $\endgroup$
    – Goose
    Aug 16, 2018 at 3:09
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ That should be part of the ribcage one. $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 16, 2018 at 3:53

4 Answers 4

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I think I have all of the proverbs:

Birds of a feather flock together
Barking dogs seldom bite
Revenge is a dish best served cold
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
A penny saved is a penny earned
Ask no questions and hear no lies
Adversity makes strange bedfellows
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Fortune favors the prepared
A house divided against itself cannot stand
A cat may look at a king
Fish and guests smell after three days
The way to a man's heart is directly through his ribcage
The early bird catches the worm
All things come to those who wait
The apple never falls far from the tree
The pen is mightier than the sword
Spare the rod and spoil the child
Don't bite the hand that feeds you
Speak softly and carry a big stick
Still waters run deep

The wrong proverb is:

The way to a man's heart is directly through his ribcage
It should be: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach

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    $\begingroup$ I moved the word "directly" from "king" to "ribcage." With that, this answer is complete and will get marked as accepted as soon as my loan for the pixels comes through. :) $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 16, 2018 at 10:29
  • $\begingroup$ Oh cool! This was definitely a fun puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – nikki
    Aug 16, 2018 at 16:45
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I have one(seven) to start it off

The Pen is mightier than the sword.
Birds of a feather Flock together.
An Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
A house divided cannot stand.
The early bird catches the worm.
A little Knowledge is a dangerous thing.
A way to a man's heart is directly through his ribcage(stomach?).

The missing one may be

A way to a man's heart is directly through his ribcage(stomach).

Mappped with words from practiced-liar and Kevin L! :D

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ If you're mapping (which seems like a good idea!), you should probably map one "the" to "The". $\endgroup$
    – Chowzen
    Aug 16, 2018 at 1:59
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I've got nine(?):

Adversity makes strange bedfellows.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Barking dogs seldom bite.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
Still waters run deep.
All things come to those who wait.
Fortune favours the prepared.

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  • $\begingroup$ I always thought it was Good things come to those who wait, so maybe that's the wrong one! $\endgroup$
    – Yout Ried
    Aug 16, 2018 at 6:19
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I've got 6

A cat may look at a king
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
Speak softly and carry a big stick
Ask no questions and hear no lies
The apple never falls far from the tree
Fish and guests smell after three days

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