Another reason why it's fun to be a professor

InnocentEnglish.com has a posting of a first grade teacher who collected a bunch of famous proverbs, cut them in half, and gave to her students as a test to complete however they could. While the list shows a series of hilarious responses, two things struck me.

First, this is an interesting way to gain some limited insight into the cognitive abilities of children, such as learning how they make mental connections. There is a House, MD. episode, for instance, in which a child comes into the clinic because he's stuck a little police officer action figure up his nose. House retrieves said object. Then the child is back again, only this time it's a firefighter action figure up his nose. The next time the child comes, he has stuck a fire engine truck up his nose. House notices that all these toys are somehow associated, and infers that there must be a final toy up this kid's nose. Sure enough, House retrieves a cat. House had correctly deduced (or induced, rather) that the kid was creating mental associations: first send the cop, then send a firefighter, and then send the whole fire department to "rescue" his feline toy. The whole thing is both insightful and ridiculously funny.

And second, this also shows that as we grow older we may have a tendency to be less creative and imaginative while we favor being correct and not ridiculed.

Here is the list:

• Strike while the .........insect is close.
• Never underestimate the power of............ants.
• Don't bite the hand that....................looks dirty.
• Better to be safe than................punch a grade 7 boy.
• If you lie down with dogs, you'll.......stink in the morning.
• It's always darkest before............Daylight Savings Time.
• You can lead a horse to water but...........how?
• No news is..................................impossible.
• A miss is as good as a......................Mr.
• You can't teach an old dog new..............maths.
• Love all, trust.............................me.
• The pen is mightier than the................pigs.
• An idle mind is.....................the best way to relax.
• Where there's smoke there's.................pollution.
• Happy the bride who...............gets all the presents.
• A penny saved is............................not much.
• Two's company, three's.....................the Musketeers.
• Don't put off till tomorrow what....you put on to go to bed.
• Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and..........you have to blow your nose.
• There are none so blind as..................Stevie Wonder.
• Children should be seen and not.............smacked or grounded.
• If at first you don't succeed...............get new batteries.
• You get out of something only what you......see in the picture on the box.
• When the blind leadeth the blind........get out of the way.
• Better late than............................pregnant

That last one is the best!