1.6: Proof of the Pudding

[Matheson]

Hey someone had to do it eventually...

This is my favourite episode because it shows the complete childlike innocence of the children. The personality conflict between Felicity and Felix is the best with it's obviously funny results. It also focuses on the children as a whole as well instead of others being left in the background (cough!-Cecily-cough!).

The dinner scene was the best!

[oldfashionedgirl]

Oh! This episode cracks me up! Tea! Tea!

[Shelly]

Loved. It. Easily, IMO, the most hilarious episode of the series.

"Oh, you're right, Felicity! There ARE a lot of cherries in your pie!"

[oldfashionedgirl]

And I love the way the children carried the whole episode!

[The Chef]

Where does the phrase "the proof of the pudding" come from?

Perhaps it's a sign of our increasingly fast-paced, short-attention span society that even our old proverbs are being shortened and clipped down from the original full sayings. Word Detective and other etymology sites pointed out that the phrase originated as "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It means that the true value or quality of something can only be judged when it's put to use. The meaning is often summed up as "results are what count."

According to Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, the phrase dates back to at least 1615 when Miguel de Cervantes published Don Quixote. In this comic novel, the phrase is stated as, "The proof of the pudding is the eating."

Word Detective and the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms note that the phrase came into use around 1600. However, a bulletin board quotes The Dictionary of Cliches, which dates the phrase to the 14th century. The board also mentions a 1682 version from Bileau's Le Lutrin, which read, "The proof of th' pudding's seen i' the eating." A page of pudding definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary also cites the author Boileau (Bileau) as the first to use the phrase. So it seems likely that the phrase dates back to the 1600s, though the identity of its author is disputed.

These days, some people shorten the phrase to simply "proof of the pudding." Even the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language trims it down. Occasionally, it is even further abbreviated to "proof in pudding," irritating purists who argue that the shortened versions don't mean anything on their own. Let's just hope it doesn't get further reduced any time soon. "Proofpudding" just doesn't cut it.

[Wild Roses]

Where does the phrase "the proof of the pudding" come from?

Perhaps it's a sign of our increasingly fast-paced, short-attention span society that even our old proverbs are being shortened and clipped down from the original full sayings.

I am assuming you have not read THE GOLDEN ROAD yet, as LMM herself titled the chapter which this episode is based on "Proof of the Pudding." (The episode is, also, drawn from several other chapters in THE STORY GIRL and TGR but its main inspiration was the TGR chapter.)

Although I don't defend Kevin Sullivan much nowadays, in this case, he is totally innocent. He took the proverbial name of the episode from LMM herself.

[The Chef]

No I haven't read it. As a (Dutch) translator I have an interest in English language and that's why I posted the above.

[Wild Roses]

I will admit that it was interesting. I didn't know that information about the proverb.

[The Chef]

Well, you live and learn

If English is not your mother tongue, you tend to google more for certain "sayings" your not familiar with. Google certainly has proved itself valuable in this case

[Wild Roses]

You should write a book on the history of sayings. I like how your posts unpack the history of them and how they evolve over the centuries.

English is my mother tongue. I did learn Spanish, but it's very rusty.

[The Chef]

Well to be honest, the material above is not my own but thanks for the suggestion, ha. Interesting. I myself played a bit with the Malaysian language (almost the same as Indonesian), and I am also learning Egyptian hyroglyphs and Hebrew (for obvious reasons I guess). Spanish is a Roman or Romanic language if I'm not mistaken. When your own language is also a Roman language, it's sometimes easy to know the meaning of a certain word in another Roman language because it is derived from the same Latin root.

You're an English literature major, so I guess you also have Fowlers "The King's English?" I love that book.

You should write a book on the history of sayings. I like how your posts unpack the history of them and how they evolve over the centuries.

English is my mother tongue. I did learn Spanish, but it's very rusty.

[topkapi56]

Another of the best episodes. An episode of pure hilarity.

[Cordelia]

This episode highlights the brilliant child actors in the series, and in my opinion, in 45 minutes successfully captures the untamed vivacity of childhood. Which, in our current culture, is too quickly forgotten. Snaps to Dick Benner!