proverb · Traditional
Bring someone a lucky day.
The phrase asks for someone to have a lucky day. It presents another person’s good fortune as the desired result without identifying how it would be brought about.
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465 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
By telling our woes we often assuage them.
Putting a difficulty into words can sometimes make it feel less isolating or easier to examine. The saying values telling someone who can listen without promising that disclosure resolves the problem.
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Call me cousin; but cozen me not.
Friendly names and claims of closeness do not excuse dishonest treatment. The wordplay contrasts being called cousin with being deceived, asking that warmth in a relationship be matched by straightforward conduct.
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Can the pouring of hot water help the one who grows flowers?
Hot water offered to a flower grower questions whether apparent help fits its recipient’s purpose. The saying contrasts an offered action with its likely usefulness in the image.
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Ceremony is the smoke of friendship.
The saying makes ceremony the smoke of friendship. It connects outward forms of regard with an underlying relationship.
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Charity begins at home.
Care and generosity should include the people closest to you. Helping elsewhere does not excuse neglecting responsibilities to those who depend on you in everyday life.
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Charm is better than beauty.
Charm preferred to beauty values an engaging manner beyond physical appearance. The saying questions looks as a complete source of appeal.
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Choose your friends with care; your enemies will pick you.
Friends chosen with care and enemies choosing oneself contrast some control over relationships with unwanted hostility. The saying values consideration where a choice is available.
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Claw me, and I will claw you.
The mutual scratching image presents an exchange of favours: help me and I will help you. It may describe ordinary cooperation or self-serving reciprocity, depending on the situation, so the fairness of the exchange must be examined rather than assumed.
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Cold hands, warm heart.
The saying contrasts cold hands with a warm heart. It imagines outward coldness alongside inward kindness rather than making appearance and character identical.
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Commend a wedded life, but keep thyself a batchelor.
The saying recommends praising marriage while remaining unmarried. It separates favourable words about a way of life from choosing its commitments oneself.
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Company in distress, Makes trouble less.
Sharing a difficulty with people who understand it can reduce the feeling of being alone. Mutual recognition may ease the burden without making the underlying problem disappear.
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Confiding a secret to an unworthy person is like carrying grain in a bag with holes in it.
A secret given to an unworthy person compared with grain in a holed bag pictures information escaping an entrusted container. The saying asks whether confidentiality is supported by the arrangement.
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Courtesy on one side never lasts long.
Courtesy may be difficult to sustain when it is consistently met with disregard. The one-sided exchange highlights reciprocity, without requiring politeness to become a bargain or blaming someone for setting a necessary boundary.
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Cover up the good you do–like the Nile, conceal your sources.
Good actions concealed like the Nile’s sources give modesty an image of benefit flowing without advertised origin. The saying values help beyond public display.
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Deadly as she can be, a tigress will never eat her own cubs.
A dangerous tigress sparing her cubs contrasts outward threat with presumed protection of close kin. The saying gives care a boundary within a fierce image.
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Different strokes for different folks.
The saying gives different people different strokes. It recognises varied preferences or needs rather than expecting one approach to suit everyone.
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Dine with a stranger but put aside your love for your family.
Dining with a stranger while setting aside love for family gives hospitality and closer attachment different places. The phrase put aside leaves their exact relation uncertain.
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Divide and share an orange, it tastes just as good.
An orange shared without losing its good taste pictures generosity compatible with enjoyment. The saying asks whether a benefit can be enjoyed together.
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Do not call the forest that gives you shelter a “jungle”.
A sheltering forest not to be called a jungle contrasts received protection with a dismissive description. The saying asks for regard toward what offers support.
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Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.
Walking two moons in a neighbour’s moccasins asks for sustained attention to another person’s circumstances before judgment. It uses shared experience as a perspective image.
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Do not overstay/ outstay your welcome.
The instruction warns against remaining as a guest beyond one’s welcome. It asks a stay to respect the host’s willingness and capacity.
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Do not stick your finger between husband and wife.
A finger kept from between husband and wife warns against intervening in an intimate relationship. The saying expresses caution about involvement.
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Do not wear out your welcome.
Wearing out a welcome compares hospitality with something that can be exhausted. It asks a guest to consider when their presence has become burdensome.
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