It used to bug me when I was old Oakley - & now that I'm new Oakley - it still bugs me...
Why..?
I always thought the saying was 'the empty can makes the loudest noise...' ( for example - as you kick it down the road... )
I mean - a can has to have something inside it in order to rattle - in which case - it is no longer empty...
Unless of course the empty can is rattling around inside another vessel - but that is not easily inferred from the line itself...
Time for some research...
Depending on who you believe the following phrase is attributable to Plato or 16th Century writer Willian Baldwin
'As empty vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest blabbers'
Think that ties it up in a neat bow.
Shakespear refers to this proverb in Henry V & King Lear.
Polish version - 'a cow that moos a lot doesn't give much milk'
And a wiki snippet that caught my eye:
Empty vessel or the empty vessel approach is a term describing the negative effects of how one ends up with a worthless outcome when trying to please everyone.
So if you upset only 50% of people in a post - you're doing well...
Anyway - got that off my chest - better get back to work before I'm accused of 'rattling' on too much...
akley
