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Idiom: A watched pot never boils
While waiting for something to happen, we can think about nothing else, which makes the time pass even more slowly.
That’s where today’s idiom, a watched pot never boils, comes in.
A watched pot never boils means for someone who is waiting for something to happen, time will pass very slowly and be very boring.
They say patience is a virtue, but the truth is patience is in short supply among the human race.
This lack of patience exists from a very young age.
Kids who are waiting for Christmas to arrive are a perfect example.
In my childhood, the anticipation began to build in September.
As you can imagine, every year, I felt as if Christmas would never arrive.
It was exactly like watching a pot of water boil on the stove.
Yes, eventually, it will happen, but if you sit and watch it carefully, the time goes by at a glacial pace, and finally, you feel as if you will go mad.
I suppose most Christian children feel like that, but for me, it started a little early.
Even before Halloween, which was another highly anticipated event, I began combing through the Sears catalogue and circling almost every toy I could see.
Of course, it was only wishful thinking, but it was the Sears Christmas Wish Book, after all.
Anyways, no matter what you are waiting for, you should be able to relate to today’s idiom.
A watched pot never boils is as true now as when it was first created.
People have been bringing water to a boil for thousands of years.
They’ve also been bored out of their minds while waiting for it to happen.
It’s very similar to the American idea of hurry up and wait.
If you’re waiting, it’s always better to do something else to pass the time.
If you do, then before you know it, whatever it is you’re waiting for will happen so fast that you’ll be surprised.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 72.
The higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100, the easier the passage is to read.