"it's not the whistle that pulls the train" meaning in English

See it's not the whistle that pulls the train in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=it's not the whistle that pulls the train}} it's not the whistle that pulls the train
  1. Boasting and loud talk should not be mistaken for the work that produces real achievements; bravado is no proof of action. Synonyms: it ain't the whistle that pulls the train, it is not the whistle that pulls the train, it isn't the whistle that pulls the train, the whistle doesn't pull the train Related terms: all talk and no action
    Sense id: en-it's_not_the_whistle_that_pulls_the_train-en-proverb-Q6-InKNh Categories (other): English proverbs

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for it's not the whistle that pulls the train meaning in English (1.8kB)

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "it's not the whistle that pulls the train"
      },
      "expansion": "it's not the whistle that pulls the train",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1956 July 1, James Reston, “Washington: It's Not the Whistle that Pulls the Train”, in New York Times, page E8",
          "text": "“In the words of the nursery rhyme,” says Mr. Green, “‘it isn't the whistle that pulls the train.’”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1962, American Flint, volume 62, American Flint Glass Workers' Union, page 17",
          "text": "Until then, remember, don't brag, it's not the whistle that pulls the train.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Eve-Lyn Woodard, Resounding Echoes, page 113",
          "text": "The shiny aluminum body of the 1928 Peerless race car with its rumble seat and purchase price of 50 dollars must have put Kenwood in a boastful mood because Grandma Proper immediately stated, “Kenwood you must remember that it is not the whistle that pulls the train.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Boasting and loud talk should not be mistaken for the work that produces real achievements; bravado is no proof of action."
      ],
      "id": "en-it's_not_the_whistle_that_pulls_the_train-en-proverb-Q6-InKNh",
      "links": [
        [
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          "boast"
        ],
        [
          "loud",
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        [
          "talk",
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        ],
        [
          "work",
          "work"
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        [
          "achievement",
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        [
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        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "all talk and no action"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "it ain't the whistle that pulls the train"
        },
        {
          "word": "it is not the whistle that pulls the train"
        },
        {
          "word": "it isn't the whistle that pulls the train"
        },
        {
          "word": "the whistle doesn't pull the train"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "it's not the whistle that pulls the train"
}
{
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "it's not the whistle that pulls the train"
      },
      "expansion": "it's not the whistle that pulls the train",
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    }
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  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1956 July 1, James Reston, “Washington: It's Not the Whistle that Pulls the Train”, in New York Times, page E8",
          "text": "“In the words of the nursery rhyme,” says Mr. Green, “‘it isn't the whistle that pulls the train.’”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1962, American Flint, volume 62, American Flint Glass Workers' Union, page 17",
          "text": "Until then, remember, don't brag, it's not the whistle that pulls the train.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Eve-Lyn Woodard, Resounding Echoes, page 113",
          "text": "The shiny aluminum body of the 1928 Peerless race car with its rumble seat and purchase price of 50 dollars must have put Kenwood in a boastful mood because Grandma Proper immediately stated, “Kenwood you must remember that it is not the whistle that pulls the train.”",
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      ],
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "it ain't the whistle that pulls the train"
    },
    {
      "word": "it is not the whistle that pulls the train"
    },
    {
      "word": "it isn't the whistle that pulls the train"
    },
    {
      "word": "the whistle doesn't pull the train"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it's not the whistle that pulls the train"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.