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
Cutting off a nose to spite the face pictures retaliation that also damages the person acting. The saying warns against a self-defeating response to anger.
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Do not choose a response that harms your own interests mainly to express spite. Check whether an angry refusal or retaliatory act serves a worthwhile purpose or merely makes the situation worse for you.
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The instruction asks someone not to fear failure. It encourages approaching an attempt without letting the possibility of a setback settle the decision alone.
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Meeting trouble halfway pictures moving toward a difficulty before it arrives. The saying warns against treating a feared problem as already certain.
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The saying advises pausing promises during intense joy and replies during intense anger. It links strong emotion with the need to consider consequential words.
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The man at the wheel represents someone occupied with steering. The warning asks others to respect the attention that a demanding task may need.
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The supplied gloss reads bringing a harp to a party as repeatedly returning to the same subject. Under that reading, the advice concerns repetitive conversation.
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The instruction postpones worry about eggs not yet laid. It asks someone to distinguish a future possibility from an event already present.
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The saying observes that satisfying an appetite diminishes the desire that prompted it. As an analogy, obtaining something can alter how urgently it is wanted.
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Resenting another person’s advantage does not by itself improve your own situation. Notice what you need or can learn instead of treating someone else’s success as a resource you have lost.
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The saying distinguishes appearing wise in silence from actually being wise. It imagines quietness concealing a person’s lack of understanding.
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The saying pairs constant drunkenness with constant thirst. It presents repeated drinking as failing to settle the want that appears to drive it.
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The saying gives every cloud a silver lining. It encourages looking for a possible benefit within a difficult situation.
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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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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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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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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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The saying calls every problem a gift and makes problems necessary for growth. It turns difficulty into an opportunity through an absolute claim.
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Something already pleasing need not be improved by decoration. The face and paint picture an existing quality that extra embellishment may not help.
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The saying makes faith move mountains. It represents belief as capable of facing something that seems overwhelmingly difficult.
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Imagination or personal preference can strongly influence how something is seen and pursued. The saying recognises the reach of fancy, without making an imagined possibility true or dismissing every imaginative idea as unreliable.
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Personal liking can matter more to someone than conventional beauty. What appeals to a person need not be the thing that others rate most attractive.
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Fear and hope as parents of God present belief through human emotions. The saying proposes a source for religious ideas rather than treating divinity as a literal child.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Fear can produce ingenious preparations or imagined dangers. Examine whether a new idea responds to evidence and helps the situation rather than merely extending the alarm.
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