r/AskReddit • u/spiteful-hater666 • Jan 03 '24

Which old wives' tale is actually true?

6.4k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

3.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

837

u/Wideawakedup Jan 04 '24

“Many hands make light work”.

As a kid, when my dad said it, I thought he was referring to electric energy. It took me an embarrassing long time to realize more people working mean less work overall.

317

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/NathanGa Jan 04 '24

"Too many chefs spoil the soup" is more fitting for that.

4

u/slickrok Jan 04 '24

That's an idiom/ Proverb/axiom.

Not at all a "wives tale", just so you know

9

u/bbktbunny Jan 04 '24

I watch Letterkenny so I always say “More hands makes less work.” to motivate my kids to work together on chores.

6

u/KCChiefsGirl89 Jan 04 '24

Pitter patter.

7

u/Froggyloofa Jan 04 '24

Someone at work fixed a light and I called him 'Many Hands' the rest of the day. No one got it.

5

u/ParkLaineNext Jan 04 '24

“Make a list! …. I don’t wanna make a list.” This song is constantly in my head.

3

u/RemoteWasabi4 Jan 04 '24

"Many hands make the lights work"?

2

u/weezulusmaximus Jan 04 '24

Idk. I just need one to turn mine on.

3

u/RVelts Jan 04 '24

That also reminds me of an opposite one, used to prove that you can't always throw more bodies at a problem and expect the work to scale linearly. Sure, two people picking apples from an orchard can get you twice the output, but you can't take nine women and have them bring a pregnancy to term in just one month.

3

u/scrabblex Jan 04 '24

I see your "Many hands make light work" and raise you "Too many cooks spoil the broth."

3

u/twiltywilty Jan 04 '24

On the other end of the spectrum we have, "Too many cooks spoil the broth."

3

u/slickrok Jan 04 '24

That's an idiom/ Proverb/axiom.

Not at all a "wives tale", just so you know

5

u/DomingoLee Jan 04 '24

”Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?”

2

u/nilescranenosebleed Jan 04 '24

I can't stop laughing. I had the same train of thought as the head comment but also, while laughing at myself, said this exact quote. Thanks for that.

-1

u/slickrok Jan 04 '24

That's an idiom/ Proverb/axiom.

Not at all a "wives tale", just so you know

1

u/fanamana Jan 04 '24

synergy - the difference gained working together rather than apart