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The exact origin of the phrase is unclear, but the meaning is very clear indeed:
A pot of water is going to boil in exactly the same length of time whether or not you watch it, but if you are so impatient that you need to keep watching in the hope it will boil more quickly it will seem to take forever to come to boiling point.
The phrase, "A watched pot never boils" contains a warning against giving in to impatience; it'll do you no good at all and will only serve to make you and those around you uncomfortable.
Of course, if you occupy yourself with something else while waiting for the pot to boil, it will be boiling away like mad before you know it.
You see a good example of this kind of impatience every day in the elevator lobby of any building: there's always someonewho'll come along, see the button lit up to indicate the elevator's already been called, but still has to hit the lit-up button again. Sometimes they'll stare at the button and hit it several times, as if they can somehow make the elevator arrive more quickly.
Once in the elevator, even if someone else has already pressed the button for their floor, they still have to press it again!
None of this makes the elevator arrive faster, or get to its floors more quickly: it just makes the impatient one more irritable and leaves many observers feeling vaguely uncomfortable.
I wonder whether the button-thumpers and those in their vicinity would all have a happier day if they spent the time in the lift lobby saying good morning to one another?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoIt means that your perception of things tends to pass faster when you're not so focused on them. If you devote all your attention to the heating pot, watching it to the point of ignoring other things, it will seem like time's passing more slowly because you're doing nothing but staring at the pot and you're not distracting yourself with other things. This is why we usually find ways to "kill time" with other things when we're waiting on something. A similar concept is that of "clock-watching": obsessing over the time which in turn concentrates one's perception and makes it seem it's passing more slowly.
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Who said a watched pot never boils?
A watched pot never boils does not have an express origin. It is called an idiom. It means something else besides what it implies.
The temperature of the aqueous content of an unremittingly ogled cooking container does not reach 212 degrees Fahrenheit?
A watched pot never boils. Submitted by "the Gatling's"
What are some old English idioms?
A Watched kettle never boils Better late than never
An observed kitchen utensil won't bubble?
the adage is a watched Pot never boils meaning don't waste your time whether you watch it or not it will boil in its own time
What is the meaning of the idiom an examined kettle does not bubble?
it means that not being patient can make time seem to slow to a crawl therefore a watched pot will never boil
What does the phrase 'a watched pot never boils' mean?
Be patient. The things you desire will come to fruition in their own time.
What are the release dates for Conan - 2010 A Watched Pot Never Boils and Other Total Lies 2-41?
Conan - 2010 A Watched Pot Never Boils and Other Total Lies 2-41 was released on: USA: 30 January 2012 Finland: 7 February 2012
What saying starts with a?
stitch in time etc a bird in the handetc-a good man is hard to find-a watched kettle never boils a womans work is never done - a rolling stone etc------------is there a catch to this question?
A kettle that is watched never boil?
If all you do is watch it, it will never boil.A kettle with no water in it will never boil.The kettle actually won't boil, just the water that is in it.The kettle may seem as if it never boils while you are watching it because the process is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Is watched a preposition?
No, "watched" is not a preposition. It is a past tense verb or a participle form of the verb "watch." Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. Examples of prepositions include in, on, at, and by.
What is a different way to say a watched pot never boils?
"Time doesn't go quickly when you are bored." More accurately, if you are anxious for some event to occur or some process to complete, continuously monitoring it for progress will do nothing to hasten that progress.
Explain why a watched pot of water never boils in terms of specific and latent heats?
water vapourizes when its temperature is higher than 100 degree Celsius. when the pot of water is immersed in 100C water bath, its temperature attains its maximum at 100C so no vapourization will occur.
