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
Material resources can give someone more confidence or influence in a conversation. The full-purse image notices that advantage, but it should not make wealth a measure of truth, wisdom or entitlement to speak over people with fewer resources.
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Resources can give someone confidence or influence in speaking. The full purse is pictured as enabling a voice that might otherwise hesitate or be ignored.
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A gardener’s dog neither using cabbage nor allowing anyone else to use it contrasts possession with obstruction. The saying questions preventing a benefit one does not need.
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Useful and dependable work deserves fitting recognition. Notice the contribution and respond fairly instead of taking continued service for granted.
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A good friend compared with a rare clover gives a valued relationship an image of welcome discovery. The saying appreciates companionship.
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An irrelevant feature of appearance should not make a capable person or useful thing seem inferior. The horse’s colour challenges a superficial judgment, while leaving relevant evidence about suitability open to examination.
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Laughter and long sleep called the best cures give enjoyment and rest a healing image. The saying praises conditions that may be welcome in everyday life.
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The saying sets professional skill in law beside being a bad neighbour. It warns that an ability admired in one setting may be used unhelpfully in another.
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The saying gives a good paymaster no shortage of workers. It connects reliable compensation with willingness to work for someone.
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The saying credits a good wife with making her husband good. It points to a partner’s influence, but can wrongly make a woman responsible for another adult’s character and choices.
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The saying pictures a growing young person’s appetite as unusually large. The wolf image is humorous exaggeration rather than a standard of what every young person should eat.
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A half truth called a whole lie warns that selective accuracy can mislead. The saying asks whether omitted context changes what a listener understands.
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The saying pictures a divided house as unable to stand. It connects internal conflict with loss of stability in a shared arrangement.
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A house given its inhabitant’s character treats a dwelling as an expression of the person living there. The saying connects environment with habits or choices.
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A well-furnished house making a woman wise links material surroundings with understanding through a gendered claim. The saying assigns wisdom to a domestic condition.
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Pressing need can make someone use what is available more completely. The hungry horse leaving an empty manger suggests that circumstances shape consumption, without proving deprivation or making limited provision acceptable.
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A hungry wolf never resting gives an unmet need a restless image. The saying connects pressure with continuing effort to meet it.
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A kind word never breaking a mouth gives considerate speech an image of little cost to the speaker. The saying encourages a generous manner.
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A lawyer’s opinion worth nothing before payment connects perceived value with an exchange of money. The supplied wording includes a Hungarian label.
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Five steps taken to avoid one exaggerate extra work created by avoiding a small task. The saying questions effort that defeats its own purpose.
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Life without love compared with a year without summer gives care and affection an image of missing warmth. The saying expresses the value of connection.
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A lion not eating its own cubs gives kinship an image of restraint toward the vulnerable. The saying imagines power limited by a protective relationship.
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A lion sleeping within every brave person gives courage a latent inner image. The saying pictures resolve as a capacity that may emerge when needed.
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A small amount of help valued above much sympathy contrasts practical assistance with expression alone. The saying asks what actually meets a need.
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