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
A polite question deserving a polite answer values reciprocal consideration in conversation. The saying asks that a courteous approach receive a respectful response.
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Limited means may leave a meal simple to prepare because little is available. The saying recognises scarcity without making it a virtue or an occasion for ridicule.
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The saying calls a praying drunkard ugly. It places a disparaging judgment on a combination of prayer and drunkenness.
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A promise as comfort for a fool criticises reassurance accepted without sufficient basis. It questions relying on words before fulfilment is known.
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A promise as a debt pictures a commitment as something owed to another. It gives an assurance the weight of an obligation.
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A promise giving comfort to a fool questions reassurance accepted before fulfilment is known. The saying distrusts words used in place of practical evidence.
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The saying makes a real friend enter when everyone else leaves. It praises support at a moment of isolation.
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A rich person unable to afford unrest gives stability a cost relationship with possessions or status. The saying questions what disruption may mean for someone with much to retain.
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A rich person said not to need character separates social advantage from moral conduct through a provocative claim. The saying questions what wealth may allow someone to avoid demonstrating.
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A rich person residing in heaven gives wealth an image of ease or privilege. The saying equates material position with an idealised place.
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A damaging influence can affect more than its immediate surroundings. In a group, address particular harmful conduct before it disrupts others, without labelling a person as inherently spoiled or beyond change.
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Different roles require different tools and responsibilities. The sceptre and ladle contrast ruling with everyday provision instead of making one task interchangeable with the other.
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The saying values a modest unsuccessful attempt above a boastful success. It judges conduct as well as outcome.
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A silent mouth described as sweet to hear gives quiet a pleasing place in conversation. The saying values restraint through a paradoxical sound image.
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Money or another material incentive may overcome a barrier that appears firm. The silver key represents purchasing influence, and the iron lock represents resistance, inviting scrutiny of what opens access and whether that access is fair.
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A slave described as without choice gives coercion an absolute restriction of agency. The saying draws attention to the denial of freedom.
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Smoke, a leaking roof and a shouting wife grouped as reasons to leave home place a partner alongside practical household difficulties. The saying presents a gendered complaint.
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Older people planting trees they will not sit beneath gives future benefit priority beyond the planter’s own use. The saying praises care across generations.
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A son’s bond ending with marriage but a daughter’s lasting for life contrasts family roles by gender. The saying presents loyalty as unequal and fixed.
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This saying presents beating a woman as a way to improve her behaviour, alongside beating an animal or tree. It expresses an abusive viewpoint, not a valid instruction for relationships or care.
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An open enemy preferred to a false friend contrasts visible opposition with concealed betrayal. The saying values clarity about a relationship.
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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 friends called too few and one enemy too many favour companionship over antagonism. The saying exaggerates the value of welcome relationships and the cost of hostility.
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A tight cord near snapping makes excessive tension an image of approaching failure. The saying asks whether a burden is becoming unsustainable.
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