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
Doing nothing can be preferable to spending effort on something harmful or unsuitable. The saying questions activity for its own sake, without making all inactivity wise or dismissing necessary work.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A modest position with meaningful independence may be preferable to a subordinate place in a more prestigious setting. The head and tail contrast asks what influence and responsibility a role offers, rather than ranking people by status.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · John Heywood
Completing a worthwhile action after a delay is often better than abandoning it altogether. Missing the ideal moment does not always remove the value of doing it now.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A modest option that reliably serves its purpose may be better than an impressive one that fails you. Choose usefulness and dependability over prestige alone.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying prefers wearing out to rusting out. It values use or engagement over remaining unused.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional proverb
A promise and its fulfilment are separated by the work needed to carry it out. Good intentions matter, but a confident statement is not yet evidence of a completed result.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Trying to rely on two incompatible options can leave you without either. Indecision or a poorly arranged compromise may fail to provide the support you need.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Something adopted from someone else may not suit your own circumstances. Adapt a borrowed method or style to the actual purpose instead of assuming it will work simply because it worked elsewhere.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Boasting can sound impressive when encouraged, yet fail when action is required. The dog makes a noise but does not bite.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Boasting may sound impressive, but dependable persistence is more useful. Judge what someone follows through on rather than relying only on their confident claims.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Do not use your energy so intensely that little remains for rest and recovery. Too many demands at once can make a busy period difficult to sustain.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying places business before pleasure. It asks that a responsibility or task be attended to before recreation.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Purposeful activity can give life interest and structure, as salt adds flavour. Here business can be read as having something to do, without making paid employment the only valuable activity or treating constant busyness as a virtue.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Habitual neglect can make harmful habits easier to acquire. The saying treats drifting away from useful activity as a kind of unintended learning.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Doing said to produce conviction links engagement with a firmer sense of a task or idea. The saying values what experience may add to an initial understanding.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The phrase presents hook or crook as alternative means of reaching an aim. It expresses determination to find some way to succeed.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A thoughtful method can achieve something that courage or force alone cannot. The saying values strategy, without making deception admirable or denying that persistence and courage may still matter.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Practical skill develops through doing the relevant work. Instruction becomes more useful when paired with repeated practice, feedback and gradually more demanding tasks.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying regards calm June weather as helping corn develop well. Setting it in tune turns crop growth into a harmonious musical image.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
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.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A greater height can make a fall more consequential. The climbing image warns about the exposure that may accompany ambition, without proving that seeking responsibility or achievement is wrong or that failure is inevitable.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
What helps create an obstacle may later be obscured by it. The sun and its clouds give a vivid image of a cause losing visibility behind its own result.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Small efforts repeated over time can produce a substantial change. The saying values steady persistence, while leaving room to check whether the effort is effective and whether the desired result is actually achievable.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Do not treat an expected result as already secured. Plan with uncertainty in view rather than making commitments that depend entirely on an outcome that has not yet happened.
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