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
Damaged trust or reputation may be harder to repair than to preserve. The broken glass pictures that fragility, warning about consequences without claiming that one mistake permanently destroys someone’s credibility or makes rebuilding trust impossible.
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Cruelty is condemned by imagining it as something the devil enjoys. The image expresses moral disapproval of causing suffering, without providing evidence about supernatural beings or deciding the facts of a particular dispute.
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Cruelty called the child of anger and revenge links harmful conduct with retaliatory feeling. The saying questions what a wish to strike back may produce.
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Hostile words can bring consequences back to the speaker. Chickens returning to roost picture that rebound, without establishing that curses have supernatural power or that every misfortune is deserved.
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The saying compares curses with chickens returning to roost. It imagines hostile words or wishes coming back to affect their source.
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Actions provide the useful result that words may only promise. Look for what has actually been done rather than judging commitment solely by an impressive statement of intention.
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A supposedly lazy person answering a requested task with advice contrasts doing work with discussing how it might be done. The saying criticises talk that replaces an expected contribution.
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Dirt sticking to innocent people pictures accusations or reputational damage affecting someone who has done no wrong. The saying distinguishes stigma from guilt.
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The saying makes discretion the better part of valour. It values careful judgment within courage rather than treating rash action as its highest form.
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The saying calls disease a tax that pleasure may bring. It gives enjoyment the image of a later cost without specifying the activity or a proven connection.
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Distance testing a horse is paired with time revealing character. The comparison asks for evidence over an extended course rather than an instant impression.
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Follow through on the good you propose, and do not make every helpful act an occasion for self-praise. Let concern lead to useful conduct rather than only to declarations about your intentions.
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The speaker demands that instructions be followed even when their own conduct differs. The saying exposes a gap between a stated rule and its example.
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Treat others with the consideration you would hope to receive yourself. Thinking about how an action would feel from the other side can help you choose a fairer response.
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A debtor driven away and becoming hostile links rejection with a possible change in a strained relationship. The saying asks how an obligation is handled socially.
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Mocking a snake for crawling judges it by a movement that belongs to its nature. The saying questions ridicule of difference.
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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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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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The saying links doing right with fearing no person. It encourages integrity even when other people exert pressure.
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The saying asks people to treat others as they would wish to be treated. It uses one’s own desire for consideration as a starting point for conduct.
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Good conduct is presented as leading to a good outcome. The saying encourages care in what someone does, but the promised connection is not guaranteed: circumstances can frustrate careful work, and hardship is not proof that a person acted badly.
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The saying values acting on a considered responsibility despite uncertainty about the result. It encourages integrity, while deciding what ought to be done still requires attention to consequences, competing duties and the people affected.
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A dog’s wagging tail contrasted with its tongue values friendly conduct over excessive talk. The animal image praises approachable behaviour.
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Failing to act can be harmful when a real responsibility calls for action. The saying draws attention to omission rather than only to obvious misconduct.
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