APAD: Cold hands, warm heart

7
7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning: A reserved exterior may disguise a kind hearted person.

 

Background: The earliest known use of this proverb was in Collectanea edited by

V.S. Lean - a collection of English and foreign proverbs published in Bristol,

England in 1903.

 

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I've met many people that fit that description.

 

My supervisor Mike in a Canadian university, for example, was not exactly an

extrovert. He rarely joked or tried to amuse. In a scheduled meeting, he kept a

straight face and focused on one subject at a time. With a calendar and a to-do

list, he operated by the clock to the minute. "A cpu on a 1/60 Hz signal," I

thought in the early days.

 

After the 2000 tech bust, some couldn't come back to finish school for lack of

funding, a topic brought up in a weekly GSA meeting. "It's the students' problem

and not my business" a professor said.

 

Mike, in his serene aplomb, retored: "A professor who doesn't think his

students' problem his business would soon run out of business." when I related

the story to him. Later, he sent me to Silicon Valley for an internship that

helped me complete study. He sure has the proverbial cold hands and a warm

heart.

唐宋韵
冷言热心。
7
7grizzly
+100086!
暖冬cool夏
A reserved exterior may disguise a kind hearted person.
暖冬cool夏
冷若冰霜的面孔下藏着一颗温暖的心。若表里一致warm hands,warm heart,w/o disguise更好:)
7
7grizzly
Maybe it's their way of keeping good fences...
唐宋韵
sweet tongue, evil heart....口蜜腹剑,哈哈。
暖冬cool夏
Make sense. Nice story to illustrate the ADAP. I remember it
7
7grizzly
+1 中西相通
T
TJKCB
lit. honeyed words, a sword in the belly (idiom) in English
盈盈一笑间
同感。warm hands,warm heart,w/o disguise更好:) +100086!
盈盈一笑间
谢谢分享。好,以后遇见cold hands,不轻易下不好的结论。耐心等一下,说不定能遇到warm heart
唐宋韵
old shoulder 就不一样的。。。
盈盈一笑间
old shoulder是指有经验的人?
暖冬cool夏
也许是想说cold shoulder?
盈盈一笑间
frozen shoulder ? :))
7
7grizzly
Great to learn. What does "lit." stand for?
唐宋韵
yes, I meant "cold shoulder". Sorry.....
T
TJKCB
lit.= literature. Chinese to English, often not specific...

lit.= literature. Chinese to English, often not specific... sweet is vague, but honey is specific. Evil is vague, but sword is specific

T
TJKCB
sweet is vague, but honey is specific. Evil is vague, but sw
卫宁
外冷内热。学习了!