| Idiom | Watched Pot Never Boils |
|---|---|
| Example | Waiting for the mail carrier isn't going to make the letter come any sooner. A watched pot never boils. |
| Meaning | when waiting anxiously or impatiently for something to happen, it seems to take much longer |
| Origin | If you put a fire under a pot of water, it will eventually boil, of course. But if you just stand there and watch the pot, it will seem to take forever for the boiling bubbles to first appear. Anxiety and impatience do not speed things up; they make them seem slower. |
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