proverb · Traditional
A woman's strength is in her tongue.
The saying assigns verbal power to women. A critical reading can recognise the force of speech while rejecting a fixed rule about gender and ability.
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What does it mean?
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proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A woman’s tongue is her sword, and she does not let it rust.
The sword image portrays speech as a weapon and attaches the claim unfairly to women. Examine how words are used in conflict without treating gender as an explanation.
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A woman's tongue wags like a lamb's tail.
The saying compares a woman’s speech to a lamb’s moving tail, mocking it as continual or trivial chatter. It is a sexist dismissal of speech, not an assessment of what anyone actually says.
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A woman's work is never at an end.
The saying describes work associated with women as continuously recurring, especially household and care tasks. It can make an overlooked burden visible without establishing that such work naturally belongs to women.
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A wonder lasts but nine days.
Public fascination often fades. The short lifespan assigned to a wonder reminds the reader that intense attention may not endure.
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A word and a stone let go cannot be recalled.
Once spoken, words can reach other people beyond the speaker’s control. The thrown stone illustrates consequences that cannot simply be withdrawn, encouraging care before release while leaving room for apology and repair afterward.
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A word is enough to the wise.
Someone who understands the situation may need only a brief hint to act. Concise guidance can be enough when it connects with knowledge the listener already has.
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A young man idle, an old man needy.
Neglecting available opportunities to prepare for the future can leave someone with fewer resources later. Youth and old age frame the consequences over time.
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Absence cools moderate passions, and inflames violent ones.
Distance may weaken a mild attachment while making an intense one feel stronger. The contrast between cooling and inflaming describes different possible responses to absence, rather than a dependable rule for measuring love or deciding how relationships should work.
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Absent, none without blame; present, none without excuse.
People may blame someone who is absent and hear a different account when that person is present. The contrast asks whether judgement changes when the person can explain.
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According to the old proverb.
The phrase appeals to an old proverb without naming it. It borrows the authority of a familiar saying while leaving the actual words and claim unstated.
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Account not that work slavery That brings in penny savoury.
The saying argues that paid work should not be called slavery. A critical reading distinguishes compensation from the freedom and fair conditions that a worker also needs.
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Adversity flattereth no man.
Difficulty can expose weaknesses that praise or favourable circumstances leave unnoticed. Adversity is pictured as an unflattering observer, inviting an honest assessment without making hardship necessary for growth or a complete test of someone’s character.
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Adversity makes a man wise, not rich.
Difficulty may teach practical lessons without bringing material success. Gaining understanding from a setback is different from becoming better off because of it.
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Adversity tries friends.
A difficult period can reveal how a friendship responds to strain. Practical care and reliability may become clearer when support requires effort rather than easy company.
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Advice comes too late when a thing is done.
Advice offered after an irreversible action cannot prevent what has already happened. Give relevant guidance while someone can still use it, and distinguish prevention from help with what comes next.
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Advisers are not the payers.
The person offering advice may not bear its cost. Consider who will pay, work or face the consequences before accepting a recommendation, without dismissing useful outside judgement.
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After a famine in the stall, Comes a famine in the hall.
The saying makes scarcity in an animal stall precede scarcity in the household hall. It pictures difficulty moving from provision for livestock to provision for people.
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After a feast a man scratches his head.
An enjoyable celebration can leave costs or unfinished responsibilities that become apparent afterwards. The puzzled gesture suggests reckoning with consequences, rather than treating pleasure itself as a mistake.
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After cheese comes nothing.
The saying places nothing after cheese, presenting it as the end of a sequence. The wording does not explain whether the rule concerns a meal, custom or another setting.
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After clouds comes clear weather.
A difficult period can give way to a better one. Clouds and clear weather provide an image of change, offering perspective without promising when improvement will come or suggesting that practical help is unnecessary.
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After dinner sit awhile, after supper walk a mile.
The saying assigns rest after dinner and a walk after supper. Its paired instruction gives two meals different follow-up activities.
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After Lammas corn ripens as much by night as by day.
The saying claims that after Lammas corn ripens equally by night and day. It marks a later growth stage through a calendar observance.
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After rain comes fair weather.
A difficult period may be followed by more favourable conditions. The weather comparison offers perspective and hope, without promising that every hardship ends quickly or that waiting alone will resolve what needs attention.
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