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
Think carefully before speaking or leaving a written record. Restraint can make communication more deliberate, especially when a quick remark would be unnecessary, misleading or difficult to take back.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Pause to consider what your words will do before saying them. A little thought can prevent a careless remark that is difficult to take back.
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Your own mistakes can teach caution, but another person’s experience may offer the same lesson without the same cost. Listen for relevant lessons before repeating an avoidable error.
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An acceptable option can still be surpassed by a better one. The saying encourages comparison beyond mere adequacy, while leaving room for the costs of change and the practical value of something already good enough.
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A threatening advantage does not always remove every possibility of response. The fox-and-chicken image recognises that the weaker party may still have an option, without guaranteeing escape or blaming someone who cannot avoid harm.
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Favourable conditions now do not remove the value of reasonable preparation for a change. The cloak image encourages a proportionate precaution, rather than expecting every pleasant situation to turn bad or carrying every possible safeguard.
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A secret is easiest to keep when it has not been shared. The joke leaves only one of the three people present, highlighting the loss of control once others know, without proving that every confidant is untrustworthy.
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People often favour advice that reflects their existing habits. The liking for thrifty sayings invites a question about whether a proverb informs judgment or merely confirms it.
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A small initial offer may be intended to obtain a much larger benefit. The small-fish and whale contrast asks what the exchange is designed to achieve, without guaranteeing success or treating every modest offer as a trick.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · William Shakespeare
Someone's belief may have been produced by what they want to be true, rather than by good evidence that it is true.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Crazy describes an unsound ship in the image, so even ordinary winds become difficulties. Figuratively, a weak arrangement may struggle under many conditions; the saying asks about the underlying structure rather than treating every challenge as an independent stroke of bad luck.
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A response that intensifies a problem will not resolve it. The oil-and-fire image warns about escalating a quarrel while claiming to calm it, without requiring silence or concession whenever someone needs to raise a legitimate concern.
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Different actions and experiences belong to different moments. The saying encourages attention to timing instead of expecting every purpose to be served at once.
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Giving a past wrong less hold over your attention can be more useful than retaliation. The saying values moving beyond resentment without requiring you to erase what happened or abandon necessary protection.
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The saying favours freeing your attention from a past wrong over answering it with further harm. Moving on can be valuable while remembering what happened and keeping appropriate boundaries.
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Giving generously while retaining what is needed calls for judgement. Consider both the recipient’s need and your own commitments rather than treating generosity as either giving everything or refusing everything.
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The saying makes sweetness seem sour to someone whose taste is lost. It contrasts a thing’s usual description with an observer’s altered experience.
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Willingness can encourage a search for workable methods. The saying praises initiative but overstates it if every obstacle is treated as a lack of will.
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The saying gives understanding a disease a major place in addressing it. Half the cure is an emphatic share, not a measured clinical result.
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To know where the shoe pinches is to understand the particular source of someone’s difficulty. A general impression that something is wrong is less useful than identifying what is actually causing trouble.
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The phrase pictures taking the wrong sow by the ear. It gives a mistaken choice or target a concrete, awkward image.
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An excessive amount of one thing can crowd out what else is needed or reduce its usefulness. The saying warns against imbalance, while its absolute ending should not turn every large quantity into something worthless.
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A remark or action that touches an existing hurt may provoke a strong response. The sore horse flinching asks for attention to sensitivity, without making a reaction proof of guilt or a reason to avoid necessary discussion.
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Trash and trumpery describe things judged showy or worthless, and the highway suggests repeated choices leading toward want. The saying questions the value of what consumes someone’s resources, but it cannot explain every hardship or condemn another person’s modest pleasures.
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