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Still Waters
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How did the term "still waters run deep" originate?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.A quiet person may be very profound, as in Susie rarely says much, but still waters run deep. The physical observation in this term dates from ancient times, but it has been used figuratively since about 1400. Anthony Trollope amplified it in He Knew He Was Right (1869): �That's what I call still water. She runs deep enough. . . . So quiet, but so...clever.
Another explanation here
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1279780
Another explanation here
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1279780
I have always thought that the tern probably came from peoples that lived close to nature, like native Americans, maybe noticed shallow water running over pebbles was noisy and babbling, but the deeper, quieter waters down-stream,were smooth and placid, but there was still a lot going on under the surfice..
I used to live near one of the fastest running rivers in the country, however there was a bend which was obviously deeper than the rest of the river and the water here seemed to run much slower than the rest of the river, on observing this for the first time Mr Spudqueen said that he'd never realised before that the saying actually had a physical origin.