watched pot never boils

watched pot never boils
If you watch or wait for something to get done or to happen, it seems to take forever. - A proverb. * /Jane was nine months pregnant and Tom hovered over her anxiously. She said, "You might as well go away and play some golf. A watched pot never boils, you know!"/

Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

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  • watched pot never boils — If you watch or wait for something to get done or to happen, it seems to take forever. A proverb. * /Jane was nine months pregnant and Tom hovered over her anxiously. She said, You might as well go away and play some golf. A watched pot never… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • watched\ pot\ never\ boils — proverb If you watch or wait for something to get done or to happen, it seems to take forever. Jane was nine months pregnant and Tom hovered over her anxiously. She said, You might as well go away and play some golf. A watched pot never boils,… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • a watched pot never boils — ◇ The expression a watched pot never boils means that time passes very slowly when you are waiting for something to happen if that is the only thing you are thinking about. • • • Main Entry: ↑boil a watched pot never boils see ↑boil, 1 • • • Main …   Useful english dictionary

  • a watched pot never boils — 1848 GASKELL Mary Barton II. xiv. What’s the use of watching? A watched pot never boils. 1880 M. E. BRADDON Cloven Foot III. viii. Don’t you know that vulgar old proverb that says that ‘a watched pot never boils’? 1940 C. BOOTHE Europe in Spring… …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • a watched pot never boils — ► a watched pot never boils proverb time seems to drag endlessly when you re waiting anxiously for something to happen. Main Entry: ↑pot …   English terms dictionary

  • (a) watched pot never boils. — something that you say which means if you wait anxiously for something to happen, it seems to take a very long time. There s no point sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring. A watched pot never boils …   New idioms dictionary

  • a watched pot never boils — Some things work out in their own time, so being impatient and constantly checking will just make things seem longer …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • (a) watched pot never boils — a watched ˌpot never ˈboils idiom (saying) used to say that when you are impatient for sth to happen, time seems to pass very slowly Main entry: ↑watchidiom …   Useful english dictionary

  • a watched pot never boils — things seem not to take as long if one occupies oneself while one is waiting (metaphorical idiom) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • pot — Ⅰ. pot [1] ► NOUN 1) a rounded or cylindrical container, especially one of ceramic, used for storage or cooking. 2) a flowerpot. 3) (the pot) the total sum of the bets made on a round in poker, brag, etc. 4) Billiards & Snooker a shot in which a… …   English terms dictionary

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