People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones: Daily Vocabulary

(TESOL Worksheets--Daily Vocabulary)

Youtube Video--Google: docs, pub-- Slideshow (slides, pub)
(This is re-purposed from my lesson on proverbs).



People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones
Youtube: https://youtu.be/2JLWbOktfdE

Today's vocabulary is a proverb. A proverb is a wise saying which gives you advice about how to live your life. Today's proverb is: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. So, in reality nobody lives in glass houses, but there's a metaphor going on in this proverb, so we have to imagine that there are some people who live in a house completely made out of glass. Just imagine.  I know it's not real. If they live in a house that's completely made out of glass, they shouldn't throw stones at other people, because what will happen is somebody else will pick up a stone and throw it back at them, and because their house is made of glass, one stone can easily shatter their whole house. So if you live in a glass house, you shouldn't make enemies, and you shouldn't throw stones.
So, what does this mean in real life? It means that people who have weak points shouldn't criticize other people.  I think it can be used in two ways: one way is in which someone has a lot of bad points themselves. For example, if somebody is very fat or if somebody eats unhealthily, they shouldn't criticize how somebody else eats, because their own eating habits are very bad. But the other way it could be used is people who are sensitive to criticism. So some people, you can say bad things about them and they don't really care. But some people, if you say bad things about them, it really hurts their feelings. They get really upset or really sad. So those people, who are very sensitive to bad things being said about them, shouldn't say bad things about other people, according to the proverb.
Let me give you a situation. Imagine this conversation between two co-workers:
“Tom is so lazy and he never does any work around here. I think I'm going to complain to the boss.”
“Careful, you're not a perfect worker either. Remember, you were late to work twice last week. You know what they say: people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.”
So let me know if you have any similar proverbs in your own language and also let me know whether you agree or disagree with this proverb.