Test your memory and reasoning skills with these proverbs

Mem­o­ry relies most­ly on tem­po­ral (green area) and frontal (in red) areas of the brain. These are the areas where many neu­rons will get stim­u­lat­ed when you (assum­ing you are Amer­i­can or have lived in the US for long) try to remem­ber the miss­ing words in the Amer­i­can proverbs below.

How­ev­er when it comes to the inter­na­tion­als proverbs below you will prob­a­bly have to use your rea­son­ing skills more than your mem­o­ry skills — as it is like­ly you nev­er even heard them. In this case, the frontal lob­al exer­cise will be more intense.

Yes, if you live out­side the USA, your expe­ri­ence will prob­a­bly be the reverse.

Chal­lenge: Try to remem­ber (or guess) the final words of each proverb!

US proverbs

1. The ear­ly bird gets the ___________.
2. After all is _______ and done, more is said than __________.
3. From ___________ begin­nings come great ____________.
4. Don’t ___________ hors­es while cross­ing a ____________.
5. The frog does not ____________ the pond in which he __________.

Inter­na­tion­al proverbs

1. Write injuries in sand, kind­ness­es in ____________.  (France)
2. A closed mouth catch­es no _____________ .  (France)
3. Appetite comes with _______________ .  (France)
4. If you are look­ing for a fly in your food it means that you are ___________. (South Africa)
5. Behold the igua­na puff­ing itself out to make itself a ____________.  (South Africa)
6. Milk the cow, but do not pull off the ___________. (Greece)
7. If you want to gath­er a lot of knowl­edge, act as if you are _________________. (Viet­nam)

SOLUTIONS

US proverbs

1. The ear­ly bird gets the worm.
2. After all is said and done, more is said than done.
3. From small begin­nings come great things.
4. Don’t change hors­es while cross­ing a stream.
5. The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.

Inter­na­tion­al proverbs

1. Write injuries in sand, kind­ness­es in marble.
2. A closed mouth catch­es no flies.
3. Appetite comes with eating.
4. If you are look­ing for a fly in your food it means that you are full.
5. Behold the igua­na puff­ing itself out to make itself a man!
6. Milk the cow, but do not pull off the udder.
7. If you want to gath­er a lot of knowl­edge, act as if you are ignorant.

Next brain teas­er in Sharp­Brains’ top 25 series:

• #20. Find the miss­ing num­ber in The Emp­ty Triangle

— Pas­cale Mich­e­lon, PhD, is a sci­en­tist, edu­ca­tor, and con­tribut­ing author to The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness: How to Opti­mize Brain Health and Per­for­mance at Any Age.

For more fun cog­ni­tive stim­u­la­tion, try these Top 25 Brain Teasers, Games & Illu­sions for Adults.