2017-09-16 Don’t judge a book by its cover – We Say, You Say

The Experiment is a collection of short series that are a little different to our usual programmes – but still help you improve your English.

Our first series, We say – You say, shows how YOUR language can help you remember English expressions.

We Say – You Say

We say…

Don’t judge a book by its cover. It means you shouldn’t judge the value of something or someone based on their appearance.

Examples:

Maria is only fifteen years old, but she is very mature and knowledgeable, so it shows you can’t judge a book by its cover.

When we arrived, the hotel looked amazing – but once we got inside the rooms were dirty and damp. Well it just goes to show, don’t always judge a book by its cover!

Sian
Don’t judge a book by its cover means you shouldn’t judge the value of something or someone based on their appearance.

Examples:

Maria is only fifteen years old, but she is very mature and knowledgeable, so it shows you can’t judge a book by its cover.

When we arrived, the hotel looked amazing – but once we got inside the rooms were dirty and damp. Well it just goes to show, don’t always judge a book by its cover!

You say…

Giang
You say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, so in Vietnamese we have the same saying – Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn – meaning, take the quality of the wood instead of its veneer.

Famil
In English you would say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. In Russian it would sound like this Встречают по одежке, провожают по уму – which basically means, you meet someone and judge them first by what they wear, but your final judgement is by what is in their head.

Liston
You say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, Indonesians say Jangan nilai buku dari sampulnya – which means you don’t judge people from what they wear or how they look but it is more from how they behave.

Sian
So, those are a few examples of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ in other languages. What do you say?

You say…

In Vietnamese – Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn – which means, ‘Take the quality of the wood instead of its veneer.’

In Russian – Встречают по одежке, провожают по уму –  which means, ‘You meet someone and judge them first by what they wear, but your final judgement is by what is in their head.’

In Indonesian – Jangan nilai buku dari sampulnya – which means, ‘You don’t judge people from what they wear or how they look; it is more from how they behave.’

What do you say in YOUR language?