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
People may feel especially confident in familiar surroundings or where they have influence. The cock on its own dunghill pictures that local assurance, without proving that confidence is false or that everyone behaves the same way away from home.
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Two things or people grouped together do not necessarily make a suitable partnership. Couple and pair distinguish number from fit, without proving that differences prevent cooperation or that one person has less value than another.
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Each cross is pictured as carrying its own inscription, suggesting that difficulties have particular features rather than being interchangeable. The saying can invite attention to those particulars without claiming that suffering contains a divinely assigned message or a necessary lesson.
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People become attached to their own favourite diversions, even when others see little value in them. The bauble is a small object that matters especially to its owner.
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The saying imagines a suitable partner for everyone. It can offer hope about companionship, but its promise is not guaranteed, and its paired male-and-female labels should not prescribe identity, require a relationship or override anyone’s freely chosen interest.
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Something helpful or attractive may also have a limitation. The light-and-shadow comparison encourages a rounded view, without predicting an equal drawback for every benefit or treating a serious harm as acceptable compensation.
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A useful signal or source of guidance is not necessarily the strongest or most comprehensive one. The proverb distinguishes a light from the sun, without dismissing small contributions or making prominence proof of reliability.
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People may need to act according to the particular responsibilities or circumstances before them. The saying invites attention to the task that actually belongs to someone, without making occupation the whole of their identity.
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The saying combines individual self-interest with a shared appeal to God. It can express a tense situation in which people look after themselves, but it does not justify abandoning others or suggest that shared needs can be left entirely to divine care.
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People often have a favourite interest or recurring subject. Recognising it can help explain what repeatedly attracts their attention without reducing them to that one enthusiasm.
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People have different preferences, dispositions and ways of responding. The saying encourages allowance for that variety, without making every preference a right to ignore others or treating someone’s current habits as unchangeable.
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Everyone can have weaknesses or make mistakes. Remembering ordinary imperfection can encourage humility about yourself and proportionate expectations of other people.
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A task can look easy while conditions are favourable. The calm-sea image reminds readers that apparent competence in a simple setting may not show readiness for difficulty, without declaring everyone unskilled or demanding that ability be proved through hardship.
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A person has direct access to experiences and intentions that others may not see. That perspective deserves attention, while self-knowledge can still be incomplete and benefit from honest reflection or feedback.
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The saying divides people after thirty into fools or physicians. It exaggerates an expectation that age should bring knowledge of oneself.
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The saying encourages taking an active part in shaping your circumstances. Its absolute wording overlooks what people cannot control; personal effort influences outcomes without making anyone solely responsible for everything that happens.
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The saying makes everyone eat a measure of ashes before death. Its grim image can suggest that unpleasant experiences are imagined as part of living.
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People may readily join an attack or criticism while few accept the effort of following through. Consider who will take responsibility for the costs and practical work behind a forceful response.
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A choice or situation usually has more than one aspect. Look beyond its attractive face to understand the drawbacks, limits or obligations that accompany it.
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Preferences can differ in ways that another person finds surprising. The comic cow-kissing example makes that variety conspicuous, without claiming every preferred action is harmless or that preference settles a shared disagreement.
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Attention and assistance may flow towards those already well provided for while someone in greater need is neglected. The cooking image criticises that imbalance, without proving that every visible advantage is undeserved or that need can be judged from appearance alone.
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The saying claims outsiders can tame a shrew more easily than the person living with her. It contrasts detached advice with the difficulty of an ongoing relationship through a derogatory gendered label.
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A person experiences the weight of their own difficulties directly. Recognising that perspective can help people take another’s burden seriously without ranking whose life must be hardest.
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A new attraction can persuade people to find money or time they seemed unwilling to spare before. The new ale-house image comments on enthusiasm for novelty, rather than proving that everyone can afford it.
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