What saying/cliché/proverb you grew up hearing, people use a lot etc. , that you do NOT think is true.

[WellThisWentWell]

I’ll start with

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
&
Life is short/ too short for....

Blood is thicker than water. That family bonds are stronger than friendship bonds.

The source of the proverb is (variously) from the bible and middle eastern tribes and goes "The blood of the covenant, is thicker than the water of the womb". This has a completely different meaning than what it was ever perceived to be - and often the more accurate one in my experience.

Oh, I just thought of another! "It is what is it is" used to shrug off concerns.
Well yes, the situation may be what it is, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it or be happy about it.

I before E, except after C..ermm what about the name Neil?! Haha

When the sound is e is the end of the saying, Neil is one of the exceptions to it, weir is another one, but as a general rule it does work most of the time.

Smile and the world smiles with you.
If only

Never look a gift horse in the mouth!
No idea what that's supposed to mean!

@ShutUpaYourFace

Smile and the world smiles with you. If only

Never look a gift horse in the mouth!
No idea what that's supposed to mean!

I think, and this is going purely by memory so could be wrong, it's that the age/health of the horse can be seen by looking at the teeth.

So looking at the teeth of a gifted horse is the old time equivalent of googling the price of your birthday present.

Sing when your winning.
No please don't.

I believe more in cursing when your not winning.

Also:
Once a winner always a winner!
Um no, you can't win em all. FFS

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Course you can. You can do anything with a sausage.

You learn something new everyday.
Course you can
Thanks @xTinkerhellx I'd never really thought about gift horses before

No good deed goes unpunished.

Often uttered by miserable miseries to avoid helping others.

Like shit off a shovel.

When I pick dog turds up on the garden shovel and try to fling them off they usually stick. Well at least a bit does.

I before E, except after C..ermm what about the name Neil?! Haha

I remember an episode of QI where they claimed there are more exceptions to the rule than words that follow the rule.

Another one who hates the 'sticks and stones' crap. My mum was emotionally abused by my last stepdad and has a lot of issues because of it. I have major trust issues and have self-harmed and attempted suicide over bullying, and most of it wasn't physical. Words can stay with you. Being told you're ugly and unfuckable for years makes you believe you really are those things.

No good deed unpunished is true in the context of the PTA to be fair

You can't have your cake and eat it.
What the hell am I meant to do with it then?

Tillygetsit that's another one people get wrong. The original one is "You can't east your cake and have it too" which makes a lot more sense!

"Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves."

Regularly trotted out by relatives who won't throw away the last scrap of a cheap bar of soap, but are regularly overcharged at least a grand a year because they can't be arsed to shop around for insurance or financial products.

See also "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." Because obviously getting a mortgage, or taking out a loan to train for a better-paying job, are very silly things to do.

There is a reason why I've ended up much, much better off financially than these people.

Boys will be boys

@Thingsthatgo

The one that really irritates me is ‘wasn’t mean to be’ or conversely ‘it was meant to be’. I am not a fatalist, and I don’t believe that my life is mapped out for me already. The idea that something ‘wasn’t meant to be’ just seems like a lazy way of making everything seem alright. Whenever someone says it to me, I just reply ‘oh, I don’t believe in fate’ and they often say ‘no, me neither’

@Thingsthatgo but that's true though, if something doesn't work out or go the way you'd hoped it wasn't meant to be, because if it were meant to be it would be but it wasn't so it isn't.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day-disagree; I never eat breakfast.
You only regret the things you didn't do-also disagree; there's a lot of things I would regret doing.

Life is what you make it.
I know that it means to make the best of things and look in the bright side but there are loads of times you cannot make your life better or different and lots of other people mess up you life that you cannot make any different.

“Patience is a virtue”
No it fucking isn’t.

Boys will be boys is a good one. And a dangerous one.

The breakfast one is a good example. Adjusted my eating habits and binned breakfast and lost 2 stone! Apparently that “proverb” was made up by breakfast cereal companies in the 60s....

All that matters is success at work, you have to get to the top. Marriage and children don't matter.

@NeedToKnow101

Watch your pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

My grandmother always used to say this to me and it made no sense at the time, but I do actually get it now, as in if you're careful with every penny, you will end up saving more (I think!). It certainly worked for her, she's the most frugal person I know and has a very healthy bank balance!

"That which does not kill you makes you stronger."

And it's actually Nietzsche not just a casual cliché. But I don't believe it's true.