Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then examine its imagery, practical application and limitations.
2,058 selected entries have editorial explanations. An explanation is not independent authentication of an attribution. Start with the individually source-checked classics ↗
proverb · Traditional
Do not offer something valuable where it will be neither understood nor appreciated. Pearls and swine create an intentionally sharp contrast between value and reception.
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The saying proposes catching a bird by putting salt on its tail. Its apparent method invites the question of how someone reaches the tail in the first place.
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Do not sacrifice something real and useful for an appearance or promise that lacks substance. Check what is actually available before letting an attractive impression displace a sound option.
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Circumstances and outcomes can change over time. Avoid treating either present success or present difficulty as a permanent description of what your life must be.
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A change of surroundings or routine can bring renewed growth. The pasture image suggests that staying in one place is not always best, without promising that every change will improve things.
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The rhyme personifies cheese as a troublesome elf that digests everything except itself. Its comic contradiction presents the food as having a power it does not extend to its own substance.
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Something desirable can seem unpleasant when a person has already had too much. The full blackbird’s response to cherries illustrates how satisfaction changes appetite.
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A child may appear to own something while an adult ultimately controls its use or benefit. The pig-and-bacon contrast exposes the difference between a nominal gift and practical ownership.
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The saying pictures children and chickens continually picking at food. It groups two images of repeated small feeding into a broad claim of need.
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Those pictured as having fewer responsibilities or less awareness of difficulties may appear more carefree. The saying contrasts uncomplicated enjoyment with adult concerns.
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The saying suggests that people who speak without calculated restraint may reveal what others conceal. It does not make children or people dismissed as fools automatically reliable witnesses.
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Caring for children brings responsibilities, while the comfort a parent hopes to receive from them cannot be guaranteed. The saying contrasts present duties with uncertain future expectations, rather than defining children as a debt owed to adults.
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Children are presented as a form of wealth that cannot be measured in money. The saying values family relationships amid limited resources, but it should not romanticise poverty, impose parenthood or treat children as possessions or compensation for hardship.
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The saying places responsibility on those who shape a child’s surroundings and example. Read it as a call for attentive care, rather than a claim that children have no agency.
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The saying demands that children observe quietly without speaking. It expresses an adult preference for obedience, but a modern reading should question that demand: children need opportunities to ask, contribute and report concerns, rather than have silence treated as a virtue.
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Children’s dependence can change form as they grow: the image moves from being physically nurtured to drawing on family resources.
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The saying recommends choosing a wife on Saturday rather than Sunday. A qualified reading favours seeing ordinary life instead of judging someone only in a special setting.
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An occasion that happens only occasionally can be a reason to enjoy it while it is here. The proverb presents Christmas as a special celebration, without requiring extravagance, a particular faith or participation from everyone.
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Polite words can make cooperation easier without requiring money or a large gesture. A respectful request or acknowledgement may help where a harsh manner would create resistance.
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The mutual scratching image presents an exchange of favours: help me and I will help you. It may describe ordinary cooperation or self-serving reciprocity, depending on the situation, so the fairness of the exchange must be examined rather than assumed.
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A greater height can make a fall more consequential. The climbing image warns about the exposure that may accompany ambition, without proving that seeking responsibility or achievement is wrong or that failure is inevitable.
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What helps create an obstacle may later be obscured by it. The sun and its clouds give a vivid image of a cause losing visibility behind its own result.
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An unpromising beginning need not determine how the rest of an experience develops. The cloudy-morning image encourages leaving room for improvement, while it should not be treated as a weather forecast or a promise that every difficulty ends well.
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The saying pairs a cold complexion with good condition. It gives a favourable judgment to one described quality without explaining the criterion or setting.
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