Image from http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/
So, I was serious about the "rolling stone gathers no moss" I need to know your thoughts about what it means.
Is it a good thing to be a rolling stone? Or is it a good thing to gather moss. I MUST KNOW
Also, I'm collecting Questions this week for a FAQ newsletter. Comment or e-mail your questions about what you want to know about Slovakia and our work here. No question to big or small.
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5 comments:
I think that stones with moss on them look nicer than stones without moss. There are just too many answers to this question. It all depends on the person you ask. Sorry for being so unhelpful.
I think the proverb would have us believe that it is better to be a rolling stone than a mossy one. I once ground moss in my food processer and smeared it on my concrete turtle in an effort to make it grow moss. And it was a failed attempt. So evidently a corollary would be that a nonmoving turtle gathers no moss. Hope that helps. Also, I want to know if anything is growing in your toilet, er, garden.
Agree with Miss Brenda, I think the saying means it is better to keep moving on, that you can't get anything done standing still, but I've never really examined it to think it out. Now that I have it does kind of seem like it could be interpreted a different way, that if you keep moving and never settle down, you will never have anything of your own to show for it. hmmm. Interesting.
On usingenglish.com you will find the following...
Idiom Definitions for 'A rolling stone gathers no moss'
People say this to mean that that an ambitious person is more successful than a person not trying to achieve anything. Originally it meant the opposite and was critical of people trying to get ahead.
Category: Plants & Flowers
View examples in Google: A rolling stone gathers no moss
So it does depend on what view you choose to take.
In the musical arena the Temptations noted that...
"Papa was a rollin' stone, where ever he laid his hat was home, and when he died all he left us was alone."
This certainly gives a negative connotation to the concept of being a rolling stone with no moss.
Then Don McLean seemed to challenge the saying when he wrote in American Pie...
"For ten years we've been on our own and moss grows fat on a rolling stone but that's not how it used to be."
Probably airing his disdain for the Rolling Stones whom he saw as unworthy of success Don makes the statement that if Buddy Holly hadn't died, they would never have seen success like they did.
I'm sure there are other musical allusions to the saying, but these are the only two I can think of.
Still I love you!
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