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  • A watched pot never boils
    A watched pot never boils
    Something we wait for with impatient attention seems to take forever.
  • watched pot never boils, a
    watched pot never boils, a
    Anxious waiting does not speed up matters, as in Stop running downstairs for every mail delivery—a watched pot never boils, you know. This hyperbolic adage reflects the experience of anyone who has ever been in a hurry to bring water to a boil, which eventually occurs but can seem to take forever. [Mid-1800s]

A watched pot never boils

Cultural  
  1. Something we wait for with impatient attention seems to take forever.


watched pot never boils, a Idioms  
  1. Anxious waiting does not speed up matters, as in Stop running downstairs for every mail delivery—a watched pot never boils, you know. This hyperbolic adage reflects the experience of anyone who has ever been in a hurry to bring water to a boil, which eventually occurs but can seem to take forever. [Mid-1800s]


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