I'm sorry if this question seems dumb. I know the basic message it is sending. But literally what is the interpretation and, where and why did the phrase come to be?
2006-07-24 05:39:30 · 8 answers · asked by chuck3011 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
"Waste not, want not. The less we waste, the less we lack in the future. The proverb has been traced back to 1772, and is first cited in the United States in the 1932 'Topper Takes a Trip' by T. Smith..." From the "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).
2006-07-24 05:44:25 · answer #1 · answered by Love2Sew 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When you don't waste than you can use what you didn't waste, thus if you don't waste, you don't want what you wasted back
ie: if you through away some food, but discovered the next day that you didn't have any money to buy more food you would be wanting the food you wasted back. Whereas if you didn't waste the food you could eat it the next day
2006-07-24 05:44:49 · answer #2 · answered by JustAskMe 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It means that you should treasure what you have and not squander it foolishly because there will come a time when you look back and realize that you really need what you had in your grasp but foolishly let get away. Waste not, want not can apply to anything - material or intangible.
2006-07-24 06:19:31 · answer #3 · answered by nquizzitiv 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think the basic idea is if you can waste it you don't need it, so you shouldn't want it. If you can waste something, you shouldn't have wanted it. Take you need, use what you take.
2006-07-24 05:44:06 · answer #4 · answered by All I Hear Is Blah Blah Blah... 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is an old proverb from Ben Franklin, it means do not waste your money, time , energy, etc... because sooner or later you will be saying if i only had........
2006-07-24 05:45:39 · answer #5 · answered by Chuck H 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
all it means is that if you do not waste, you should never need anything. i don't know where it came from though.
2006-07-24 05:43:25 · answer #6 · answered by meatball822 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you don't waste anything that you could use, you will not be without it when you need it...
2006-07-24 05:43:23 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
it means if u dont waste....you wont need.....
2006-07-24 05:42:58 · answer #8 · answered by LaQuane B 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋