proverb · Traditional
A short cut is often a wrong cut.
A shortcut often becoming a wrong turn contrasts reduced effort with an unsuccessful route. The saying asks whether omitted steps were necessary.
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739 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
A single fact is worth a ship-load of argument.
A relevant, well-established fact can settle a question more effectively than much unsupported reasoning. The ship-load exaggerates the quantity of talk, without suggesting that facts need no interpretation or that one isolated observation proves everything.
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A still tongue makes a wise head.
The saying connects a still tongue with a wise head. It praises restraint in speech as part of thoughtful judgment.
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A story never loses by re-telling.
A story can gain details or emphasis as it passes from one teller to another. The phrase never loses uses exaggeration to warn about embellishment, without proving that every retelling is false.
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A tall tree is hated by the wind. –Malagasy
A tall tree hated by wind personifies exposure as hostility toward prominence. The supplied sentence includes a Malagasy label.
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A thousand dogs can’t catch up with a gazelle.
A thousand dogs unable to catch a gazelle gives a single creature an advantage over a large number. The saying distinguishes quantity from what the pursuit requires.
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A true word is not beautiful, and a beautiful word is not always true.
Truth contrasted with beautiful wording warns that attractive expression is not a reliable sign of accuracy. The saying gives substance priority over rhetorical appeal.
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A turkey never voted for an early Christmas.
A turkey not voting for an early Christmas gives a choice an image of opposing one’s own severe disadvantage. The saying highlights interests behind a decision.
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A wind from the south has rain in its mouth.
The rhyme gives a south wind rain in its mouth. It personifies a wind direction as carrying wet weather.
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A wink's as good as a nod to a blind horse.
Different signals make little difference when neither reaches the intended recipient. The horse image asks whether a message can actually be received, without making a communication barrier the recipient’s fault.
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A wise man doesn't need advice, and a fool won't take it.
The saying leaves advice unwanted at both ends of its contrast: a wise person supposedly does not need it, while a fool refuses it.
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A wise man makes his own decisions; an ignorant man follows public opinion.
Independent decisions called wise and following public opinion called ignorant contrast judgment with conformity. The saying values examining a choice oneself.
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A Wise Old Owl.
The phrase pictures a wise old owl as a figure of cleverness or judgment. It combines age and an animal image in a compact compliment.
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A wolf may lose its fangs, but not its inclination.
A wolf losing fangs but not inclination contrasts reduced power with a presumed continuing tendency. The saying separates capacity from disposition.
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A word is enough to the wise.
Someone who understands the situation may need only a brief hint to act. Concise guidance can be enough when it connects with knowledge the listener already has.
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Ability in itself is not much when denied opportunity.
Ability denied opportunity is described as insufficient on its own. The saying distinguishes having a capacity from being able to exercise it.
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According to the old proverb.
The phrase appeals to an old proverb without naming it. It borrows the authority of a familiar saying while leaving the actual words and claim unstated.
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Admission by the defendant is worth a hundred witnesses.
A defendant’s admission valued above a hundred witnesses gives direct acknowledgment an exaggerated evidential importance. The saying contrasts an asserted confession with others’ accounts.
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Advice when most needed is least heeded.
The saying makes advice least likely to be followed when it is most needed. It pictures a gap between the need for guidance and the response to it.
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After cheese comes nothing.
The saying places nothing after cheese, presenting it as the end of a sequence. The wording does not explain whether the rule concerns a meal, custom or another setting.
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After dinner sit awhile, after supper walk a mile.
The saying assigns rest after dinner and a walk after supper. Its paired instruction gives two meals different follow-up activities.
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Age brings experience; experience is knowledge that brings wisdom.
Age leading through experience and knowledge to wisdom forms a hopeful chain of development. The saying values learning from accumulated life.
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Alertness and courage are life’s shield.
Alertness and courage as a shield picture attention and resolve as protective qualities. The saying presents them as supports for facing difficulty.
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All cats are grey in the dark.
The saying makes all cats grey in darkness. As an explicit analogy, outward differences are pictured as becoming less apparent in a shared condition.
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