proverb · Traditional
Banks are heartless.
Banks called heartless presents financial institutions as lacking compassion. The saying criticises impersonal treatment through a human-feeling image.
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What does it mean?
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.
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499 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
Bargains can ruin you.
Bargains capable of ruin question an attractive price as a complete measure of value. The saying warns of costs beyond the apparent saving.
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Be a good husband, and you will get a penny to spend, a penny to lend, and a penny for a friend.
Careful management can leave resources for personal needs, assistance and friendship. The three pennies picture several purposes served by stewardship.
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Be it better or be it worse, Be ruled by him who bears the purse.
Financial control can give someone disproportionate power over a shared decision. The saying demands obedience to the payer even when the result is worse.
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Be just before you be generous.
Meet obligations and treat people fairly before making impressive gifts. Generosity loses some of its value when it depends on withholding what another person is already owed.
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Be ruled by your purse.
Keep a proposed expense within the means actually available. The purse is made a guide to choices instead of letting desire set every limit.
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Beggars can't be choosers.
The saying denies choice to people asking for help. It portrays need as limiting the terms on which assistance is available.
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Beggars must not be choosers.
When relying on what someone else can offer, your choices may be limited. The saying encourages realistic expectations about help that is available rather than guaranteed.
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Begging is an ill trade on a fast-day.
Seeking food or generosity is pictured as especially difficult when others are fasting. The saying puts a request beside a setting in which the expected resource is restricted.
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Behind every successful rancher is a wife who works in town.
A rancher’s success linked with a wife working in town highlights support or income outside the visible enterprise. The saying turns attention to an overlooked contribution.
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Better a fortune in her than on her.
A partner’s qualities matter more than the wealth attached to them. The contrast between fortune in and on a person redirects attention from possessions to character.
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Better an ounce of happiness than a pound of gold.
The saying values a small amount of happiness above a larger amount of gold. It compares emotional and material value through imagined weights.
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Better be a beggar than a fool.
The saying places sound judgement above outward prosperity. It uses poverty and foolishness as a stark comparison, but lacking money does not define a person’s wisdom, and the comparison should not romanticise hardship or demean people who need help.
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Better go to bed supperless than to rise in debt.
The saying prefers missing supper to waking in debt. It expresses a strong aversion to owing, even at the cost of immediate comfort or provision.
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Better one's house too little one day, than too big all the year round.
An occasional shortage of space may be preferable to the continuing burden of having more than is needed. The house image compares a temporary inconvenience with a lasting commitment, rather than prescribing an ideal home size.
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Better pay the butcher than the doctor.
The saying prefers paying for meat to paying a doctor. It gives food provision priority through a contrast with the expense of illness.
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Better poor with honour than rich with shame.
Material advantage may not be worth gaining through conduct that brings shame or harms others. The saying places integrity above wealth, rather than treating money as the only measure of a good life.
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Better to be inside of a cottage than outside a castle.
Being inside a cottage preferred to outside a castle values accessible shelter over an impressive place one cannot use. The saying contrasts practical benefit with status.
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Better to be poor and healthy rather than rich and sick.
The saying prefers poverty with health to wealth with sickness. It ranks well-being above material possessions in its comparison.
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Better wise than wealthy.
Good judgement may matter more than possessing a large amount of money. The comparison values how a person understands and acts, without making hardship desirable or dismissing the practical importance of resources.
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Between true friends, even water drunk together is sweet enough.
The saying makes even plain water sweet enough between true friends. It values shared connection over an elaborate occasion.
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Big fish eat little fish.
The saying makes big fish eat little fish. As an analogy, it depicts stronger actors taking advantage of weaker ones.
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Big fish, little sea.
The phrase puts a big fish in a little sea. As a human analogy, it describes someone prominent within a relatively small setting.
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Bread and cheese is good to eat when cannot get another meat!
Bread and cheese accepted when other food is unavailable give a simpler option an image of meeting an immediate need. The source wording contains an incomplete phrase.
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