Now I am aware that I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion how I love a good cliché and I do admittedly and unashamedly have a quote/cliché/idiom or proverb to trot out for any given situation, they have become a staple part of our modern life and language for good reason. From gospels and books of old, the witty asides, putdowns and worldly inspirational quotes of latter day heroes and writers such as Hemingway, Mark Twain and Ghandi to Winston Churchill or Oscar Wilde all the way to the recent modern versions filtered to us via varying social and media platforms of a good inspirational quote or meme usually edited, rejigged and attributed to many different people! Hmm the good old who actually said it roulette game, was it the Dalai Lama or Keanu Reeves, Maya Angelou or Gemma Collins…who knows! It becomes apparent that although times change, adapt and develop through progress and evolution, in the bone our bare human instinct, angst and worries do not and thus the advice and encouragement we show each other has and will always be the same just packaged differently for differing times, the sentiments always remaining the same.
You have the in depth wholesome advice quote or simply the “These things are sent to try us”, “Look on the bright side” and “every cloud has a silver lining” ones and whatever their individual origin, whether it is derived from the Bible, Greek mythology or the like or just a very wise bloke called Gordon down the pub after a few too many, they do work in that they impart the intended comfort and positivity aimed at the receiver perfectly, just the right amount of a pick me up injection whilst also feeling comfortable and worn, bit like an old favorite cardigan you’ve had for years.
Maybe I’m thinking a little too far outside the box here or just overthinking in general (of which to be fair I am known to on occasion) it could be that I’ve simply read one too many conspiracy theory or overdosed on Orwellian dystopia but hear me out here people…do you think it’s possible that some of these have been manufactured and consciously slipped into everyday life as a means of control, a passive aggressive conformance request, a means of keeping us the general masses as unsuspecting subservient sheep, handing out and willingly sharing our own brainwashing as simple everyday platitudes and verbal hugs? Assuming you’re still with me at this point, take as a perfect example of this theory “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. As an owner of multiple dogs over the years and being a 50 yr old menopausal middle aged woman who has turned all previous learnt conditioning, beliefs and expectations on their head during the latter years of life, my thoughts are that I reckon that I myself quite confidently disprove the message in this one and consequently conclude it to be absolute and utter tosh.
However, lf you look at it from another angle, a deeper slightly more cynical one the connotation can be considered quite sinister. Let's dissect it - it's a statement that politely tells you to toe the line is it not? stick to old habits without questioning and breaking out of the mold that has been systematically drilled into our psyche since day dot! Believe what we always have and do what we’ve always done, trust or don’t trust the system just don’t break out of line enough to challenge it and so accepting the status quo to be the norm without expecting or even wanting change. The end game being that through the generations despite faux outrage and up-rise here and there, nothing really changes because what can we do right? This is the way it is and how it’s always been. You cannot fight the system because the system has taught you that it cannot be done after all it is the same system which gave you your education! It plays on the basic natural human fear of the unknown. Granted, every now and then along comes an exciting group of individuals with minds of their own and such strong belief and back bone that they refuse to conform and dutifully abide by the rules of our nobles and stand up as a voice of protest. I’m thinking in particular of the suffragettes for example and how they were successful in their quest but one can safely say it did not end well for them personally, the message being to the next up risers best not to pop your head up above that parapet, stick to what you know which is “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!”
This particular Idiom goes as far back as 1546 and is considered to be one of the oldest in the English language with the first written record of it being in 1534! Have we not been aware of the mind games of rulers and politicians as far back as the dawning of time? Do they not and haven’t they always controlled us en mass by any means necessary?
Just as an aside in the UK in particular the 1500 s were in fact the turbulent times of Henry VIII and such like, a King described by historians of old as “a new kind of monarch” and that he made “a revolution in governing”. Their modern day counterparts say this is too simple and that he in fact “ruled like a medieval King surrounded and influenced by his nobles”…Then as now a ruler whether he be sovereign or a political leader telling the under educated population of any nation that change is not necessarily a good thing surely could only benefit “the system” i.e. nobility itself. In MY humble and some would say uneducated opinion this being a very early version of control by the media with some very clever propaganda from the powers that be.
On the other hand my school reports would often reflect that ‘Janice Williams has quite an overactive imagination and often goes into her own little world’. So make what you will of that and of this theory as it is probably all in my head……. or is it, I’ll leave that one with you!? Don’t even get me started however on “You can take a horse to water…..”!!!