R, S Sayings

(English Idioms & Sayings) SAYINGS START WITH R, S

the road to hell is paved with good intentions

- you may have good intentions but if you do not put them into practice you will achieve bad results
The man wanted to be successful at his new job but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He was always late and he was fired from the job.

a rolling stone gathers no moss

- someone who often changes jobs or where they live does not build roots/wealth/success
The musician proves that a rolling stone gathers no moss. He moves from town to town and has lived in almost fifty different places during his lifetime.

Rome wasn't built in a day

- it takes time and hard work to complete a difficult job
Rome was not built in a day and the government officials realized that it was going to take many years to rebuild the old area of the city.

a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

- what is important is what something or somebody is and not what they are called
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," is from Romeo and Juliet when Juliet said that although their families had different names and they could not marry, Romeo was still wonderful.

seeing is believing

- you must see something before you can believe that it really exists
Seeing is believing and until we saw the Egyptian pyramids we could not imagine their beauty.

shape up or ship out

- behave properly or leave
The employee was told to shape up or ship out because of her bad attitude.

shoe is on the other foot

- one is experiencing the same things that one caused someone else to experience
The supervisor treated the employees badly but now the shoe is on the other foot and his new boss treats him badly.

silence gives consent

- saying nothing or not saying no to something means that you agree
Silence gives consent and when nobody spoke at the meeting, the principal thought that everybody agreed with his proposal.

silence is golden

- sometimes it is better to say nothing
The man believes that silence is golden and he is very careful what he says.

slow and steady wins the race

- being patient and determined will lead you to success
Slow and steady wins the race and the man was successful because of his hard work and patient determination.

some people are more equal than others

- the members of a group may appear equal but some members may receive better treatment than others
Some people are more equal than others and the superstar was not given a penalty for hitting the other player while other players would have received a penalty.

spare the rod and spoil the child

- sometimes you must physically punish a child in order to teach him or her to behave properly
The parents supported some physical punishment for their children and believed that if you spare the rod you will spoil the child.

speak of the devil (and he appears)

- a person appears just when you are talking about him or her
We were in the coffee shop talking about our friend when speak of the devil, our friend suddenly appeared.

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

- someone has good intentions but their laziness or love of pleasure may prevent them from doing what they want
The man often goes to expensive restaurants and nightclubs and although he wants to do well at his job he cannot. For him the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

sticks and stones may break my bones but names/words will never hurt me

- verbal insults will not physically hurt a person
The little boy yelled "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me", when the older boy started to call him bad names.

still waters run deep

- a quiet person may have much knowledge or deep feelings
The salesman was very quiet but still waters run deep and away from work he was the most knowledgeable and emotional person that you could meet.

a stitch in time saves nine

- if you fix something or solve a problem immediately you will save time later
A stitch in time saves nine and it is better to spend some time becoming organized so that you will save time later.

streets are paved with gold

- a place (usually a city) where you can make much money
Many people believed that the streets were paved with gold when they moved to the city to try to have a better life.

strike while the iron is hot

- to take action quickly and at a good opportunity
When I heard about the new job I quickly sent in my application in order to strike while the iron was hot.

Posted by Learning English through Idioms, Sayings and Proverbs