Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then explore the imagery, a practical example, when to use it, and what the saying does not mean.
4,000 entries with editorial explanations. The wider collection also contains entries still awaiting an individual interpretation.
proverb · Traditional
An unwelcome experience can sharpen appreciation of something better. The proverb describes learning through contrast, without making suffering necessary for understanding or giving those who have suffered an automatic authority over everyone else.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A doctor becoming good only after filling a churchyard presents learning through patients’ deaths as an extreme condition. The saying makes a disturbing claim about competence.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
No schooling needed to become a fool denies that formal instruction is required for poor judgment. The saying uses an ironic qualification image.
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Unwillingness to hear described through deafness criticises refusal to consider what is said. The saying uses a disability term as a metaphor for closed attention.
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Someone usually considered less capable may sometimes do better than an expert. The saying challenges complacency about relative ability, without treating one comparison as a complete measure of either person.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Not wishing to know called worse than not knowing contrasts an information gap with unwillingness to learn. The supplied sentence includes a Wolof label.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying judges foolishness in old age especially harshly. It implies that experience should have brought better judgment, though age alone cannot establish what someone has learned.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
An experienced person may already understand a familiar tactic or task. The old-fox image values practical knowledge, without proving that age guarantees expertise or that someone with experience has nothing further to learn.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Traditional sayings can preserve observations that remain useful to examine. The proverb praises inherited wisdom, while an old saying’s age alone does not establish its truth or make it suitable for every situation.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Experience can deepen a person’s judgement over time. The expression often marks something learned, without proving that greater age automatically brings wisdom or that younger people lack understanding.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
An inexperienced worker may learn at another person’s expense when that person does not recognise the risk. The saying criticises careless practice and unequal protection rather than recommending it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying follows one bite with doubled caution. It describes reluctance after an unpleasant experience.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Failures supplying more knowledge than success values examining an unsuccessful outcome. The saying gives setbacks an exaggerated teaching advantage.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Another worker can often find something to improve in work already considered finished. The second barber’s remaining task suggests that completion depends on standards and perspective, without proving that earlier work was careless or endless correction is necessary.
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One evening with a superior person valued above ten years of study gives insightful conversation an exaggerated learning value. The saying favours concentrated understanding over duration alone.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Failing forward presents a setback as part of movement toward an aim. The emphasis is on responding and learning rather than making failure a final identity.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying rates one father above a hundred schoolmasters. It gives parental influence an exaggerated value compared with formal instruction.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
One person’s poorly considered action can encourage others to repeat it. The saying asks how an example spreads, without assuming a crowd is always mistaken or labelling people as incapable of better judgement.
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You can provide an opportunity or support, but you cannot make another person choose to use it. Their motivation and decision remain outside your full control.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A small opening can reveal something valuable even when the view is incomplete. The proverb encourages attention to limited evidence, without treating a glimpse as a full account or making every small clue decisive.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying values one picture as highly as a thousand words. It praises the ability of an image to convey something compactly.
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People can follow a lead without independently examining where it goes. The sheep image warns about imitation that substitutes for judgment.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Not reading equated with being unable to read gives using a skill the same importance as possessing it. The saying values engagement with written knowledge.
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Flattery without criticism is pictured as leading someone astray. The saying warns that only approving feedback may leave important problems unseen.
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