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
Climbing a mountain to view a plain presents a broader perspective as requiring effort or a changed vantage point. The saying connects undertaking with understanding.
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Not knowing one’s location makes any road seem equally acceptable. The saying connects orientation with a meaningful choice of direction.
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Death whether drinking or not used to favour drinking treats a shared eventual outcome as a reason for indulgence. The saying presents a provocative argument.
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Following someone called foolish then being foolish oneself gives imitation an inherited judgment. The supplied wording includes a Jamaican label.
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A melon hung from a poplar mistaken for its fruit contrasts staged appearance with an unsupported conclusion. The saying questions inference from a single visible association.
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The saying pairs lying down with dogs with getting up with fleas. As an analogy, association is imagined to bring unwanted consequences.
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Trying another rider’s place is offered to challenge dismissal of bull riding as insufficiently demanding. The saying asks attention to experience behind an outside judgment.
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The saying makes doing a task oneself necessary for getting it right. It expresses distrust of relying on others to meet an expectation.
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The saying makes bringing the leaf to the grave a condition of having fruit. It contrasts a desired yield with a leaf being put away or buried.
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The saying recommends turning a cheese seven times before it cools if it is to be good and kept old. A remembered count is attached to a preparation task.
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Ignorance called blindness of the mind uses sight as an image for missing understanding. The saying gives learning a role in recognising what was previously unclear.
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The saying associates not knowing with happiness. It imagines freedom from a troubling fact as relief from the concern that fact might bring.
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Ignorance called slavery gives missing understanding an image of restricted agency. The saying values knowledge as a possible resource for greater choice.
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Images ranked nearer reality than written descriptions give visual representation a privileged relation to what it depicts. The saying values one medium over another.
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Infinity described as essentially unknowable places the limitless beyond complete comprehension in the saying’s outlook. The wording makes a broad claim about knowledge’s reach.
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The phrase pictures words entering one ear and immediately leaving the other. It describes hearing without retaining or attending to what was heard.
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An unpromising or reserved appearance may conceal a capacity that becomes evident under suitable conditions. The flint image encourages openness to possibility, without guaranteeing hidden talent or requiring someone to prove themselves through pressure.
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The saying gives limited sight power where others lack sight. As an analogy, a modest advantage may matter in a particular setting.
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All birds appearing grey in darkness gives limited visibility an image of distinctions becoming hard to see. The saying questions judgment without adequate conditions.
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The richest result may require going beyond an easy surface approach. Deep water becomes an image of work or understanding that takes more effort to reach, without guaranteeing a better outcome.
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A person’s expression may appear to reveal what they are feeling. The forehead and eyes are presented as a visible picture of an otherwise private mind.
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The saying predicts a fair afternoon from a cloudy morning during the old phase of the moon. It combines a sky observation with a lunar condition.
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Inadequate defence producing wrong judgments links a decision’s fairness with how a position is represented. The saying asks whether relevant information was heard.
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Intelligence defined as recognising opportunity gives situational awareness a central value. The saying connects understanding with seeing what might be possible.
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