Proverbs 21
11 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise; if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.
Uh? I take it this is some southern states simplification of Proverbs 21:11.
To me, the meanings are not the same.
I look it up in the KJ version.
Yes, you can turn everything into verbal porridge for the simple minded, but the precise wider old language expresses more.