watched pot never boils

a watched pot never boils

proverb When you want something to happen, paying attention to it will make the wait feel much longer. Would you stop refreshing the page? The results will be posted soon enough, and a watched pot never boils! You should do something with your time instead of just sitting there waiting for the doctor to call. A watched pot never boils, after all.
See also: boil, never, pot, watch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

watched pot never boils

Prov. Something you are waiting for will not happen while you are concentrating on it. Don't just sit there staring at the phone while you wait for Lucy to call. A watched pot never boils. I'd better do something besides look out the window waiting for Emily to drive up. A watched pot never boils.
See also: boil, never, pot, watch
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

watched pot never boils, a

Anxiety does not hasten matters. This homely piece of kitchen wisdom, whose truth is readily attested by anyone who has ever been in a hurry to cook something in boiling water, dates from the mid-nineteenth century. Clare Boothe Luce, reporting during the early years of World War II (Europe in the Spring, 1940), wrote, “A watched pot never boils, they say—only this one finally did.”
See also: never, pot, watch
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • teach a man to fish
  • it takes a village
  • village
  • the best-laid plans
  • the best-laid plans go astray
  • the best-laid plans of mice and men
  • best-laid plans go astray, the
  • a little knowledge is a dangerous thing
  • a little learning is a dangerous thing
  • better bend than break
References in periodicals archive
Like a watched pot never boils, a scheduled train never comes
The saying, aACAyA watched pot never boils' has had its day if India's Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) current predicament is anything to go by.
NEIGHBOURS (FIVE) 'A watched pot never boils' as they say, so Sonya is thrilled when she participates in a blood donation drive at the hospital - and discovers she's pregnant.
WHILE there are some cliches and sayings that are obviously complete nonsense - an apple a day keeps the doctor away, beauty is only skin deep, a watched pot never boils and, my personal favourite, a man tired of London is tired of life (no, he's just seen the light) - others are more accurate, especially where betting is concerned.
Unwatched Pot Redux: We know that a watched pot never boils. That was an experiment from late medieval Gaul, but they never received credit, because they were late.
The old adage of 'a watched pot never boils' sprang to mind as each minute ticked away through a nearly three-hour mix and bake session.
NEW YORK-A watched pot never boils, but whoever came up with that saying probably didn't own an electric kettle.
We discussed Sunday dinners and how a watched pot never boils. We added the pasta, box by box, until we had eight pounds of pasta boiling away into a huge, almost overcooked pasta ball.
Simulating the 'watched pot never boils' scenario the subjects focused their attention on either the duration of the image or its colour.
They say "a watched pot never boils" but the Cheltenham kettle is just beginning to whistle.
IT MAY be a case of a watched pot never boils, but you'll be able to see when this kettle (below) is boiling.
THEY SAY A WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS. It is equally true that someone who watches a boiling pot does not see the tremendous transformation occurring.
But just as a watched pot never boils, a watched Sister--one who is at the receiving end of your time and attention--will rarely boil over.
If a watched pot never boils, what happens to a pulverized one?