"fine words butter no parsnips" meaning in English

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Proverb

Audio: En-us-fine words butter no parsnips.oga [US]
Etymology: Attested as early as 1639 as faire words butter noe parsnips, alluding to the English habit of buttering foods to make them more palatable. It was found in the 17th century in various forms with the first and last word being different, thus allowing combinations of fine/fair/soft with parsnips/cabbage/fish/connie before becoming standardized in the form fine words doth butter no parsnips. Etymology templates: {{m|en|connie}} connie Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=fine words butter no parsnips}} fine words butter no parsnips, {{en-proverb|head=fine words butter no parsnips}} fine words butter no parsnips
  1. Nothing is achieved by empty words or flattery. Related terms: actions speak louder than words Translations (talking about doing something does not get it done): praatjes vullen geen gaatjes (Dutch), ei suuret sanat suuta halkaise (Finnish), Von schönen Worten kann man sich nichts kaufen. (German), le belle parole non danno da mangiare (Italian), det hjelper ikke med snakk (Norwegian Bokmål)
    Sense id: en-fine_words_butter_no_parsnips-en-proverb-PEhrjYzi Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs

Download JSON data for fine words butter no parsnips meaning in English (3.0kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "connie"
      },
      "expansion": "connie",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Attested as early as 1639 as faire words butter noe parsnips, alluding to the English habit of buttering foods to make them more palatable. It was found in the 17th century in various forms with the first and last word being different, thus allowing combinations of fine/fair/soft with parsnips/cabbage/fish/connie before becoming standardized in the form fine words doth butter no parsnips.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "fine words butter no parsnips"
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      "name": "head"
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      "args": {
        "head": "fine words butter no parsnips"
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      "expansion": "fine words butter no parsnips",
      "name": "en-proverb"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nothing is achieved by empty words or flattery."
      ],
      "id": "en-fine_words_butter_no_parsnips-en-proverb-PEhrjYzi",
      "links": [
        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
        ],
        [
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          "empty words"
        ],
        [
          "flattery",
          "flattery"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "actions speak louder than words"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
          "word": "praatjes vullen geen gaatjes"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
          "word": "ei suuret sanat suuta halkaise"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
          "word": "Von schönen Worten kann man sich nichts kaufen."
        },
        {
          "code": "grc",
          "lang": "Ancient Greek",
          "note": "ῥήματα ἀντ’ ἀλφίτων (rhḗmata ant’ alphítōn, literally “words instead of meals”)",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
          "word": "le belle parole non danno da mangiare"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
          "word": "det hjelper ikke med snakk"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "соловья́ ба́снями не нако́рмишь (solovʹjá básnjami ne nakórmišʹ, literally “you can't feed a nightingale with fables”)",
          "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "fine words butter no parsnips"
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        "2": "connie"
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      "expansion": "connie",
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Attested as early as 1639 as faire words butter noe parsnips, alluding to the English habit of buttering foods to make them more palatable. It was found in the 17th century in various forms with the first and last word being different, thus allowing combinations of fine/fair/soft with parsnips/cabbage/fish/connie before becoming standardized in the form fine words doth butter no parsnips.",
  "head_templates": [
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        "head": "fine words butter no parsnips"
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "fine words butter no parsnips",
      "name": "en-proverb"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "actions speak louder than words"
    }
  ],
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        "English terms with audio links"
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        "Nothing is achieved by empty words or flattery."
      ],
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        ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
      "word": "praatjes vullen geen gaatjes"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
      "word": "ei suuret sanat suuta halkaise"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
      "word": "Von schönen Worten kann man sich nichts kaufen."
    },
    {
      "code": "grc",
      "lang": "Ancient Greek",
      "note": "ῥήματα ἀντ’ ἀλφίτων (rhḗmata ant’ alphítōn, literally “words instead of meals”)",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
      "word": "le belle parole non danno da mangiare"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done",
      "word": "det hjelper ikke med snakk"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "соловья́ ба́снями не нако́рмишь (solovʹjá básnjami ne nakórmišʹ, literally “you can't feed a nightingale with fables”)",
      "sense": "talking about doing something does not get it done"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fine words butter no parsnips"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (fc4f0c7 and c937495). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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