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 protected situation can make an activity seem easier or safer than it would elsewhere. The good haven pictures favourable conditions, without proving that confidence there will transfer to an exposed setting.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Someone may blame their equipment to avoid recognising a weakness in their own work. Examine skill and method as well as tools when a result disappoints.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
An unpleasant experience can make someone cautious about encountering the same danger again. Their reluctance may reflect what happened before rather than the present situation alone.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A busy mother causing a lazy daughter assigns a child’s conduct to a parent’s workload. The saying presents a gendered family explanation.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A future cock identifiable on hatching imagines later potential visible from an early sign. The saying favours recognising what a beginning may suggest.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Affection can become excessive indulgence when it prevents a child from learning limits or acting independently. The saying questions how care is expressed, rather than suggesting that a child needs less love.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A specialist may benefit from another person’s observations. Different perspectives can add relevant information, without making every opinion equally informed or replacing the expertise the situation requires.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A doctor and farmer together knowing more than a doctor alone values knowledge brought by different experience. The saying praises complementary perspectives.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying judges contempt for a father’s instruction as foolish. It values receiving guidance through a family relationship.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying contrasts seeking understanding with enjoying the expression of one’s own opinion. It criticises speaking that has no interest in learning.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying calls a good example the best sermon. It favours demonstrating a value through conduct over explaining it only in speech.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A useful principle can remain relevant beyond the occasion when it was first heard. The saying praises enduring guidance, while the word good matters: a maxim still needs to fit the circumstances rather than answer every situation automatically.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A tool can be good at its intended job and unsuitable for another. Choose according to the task rather than assuming general quality makes every use appropriate.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A well-furnished house making a woman wise links material surroundings with understanding through a gendered claim. The saying assigns wisdom to a domestic condition.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A person working across many trades called master of none questions breadth without depth. The saying contrasts general familiarity with specialised skill.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying calls a little knowledge dangerous. It warns that partial understanding may be mistaken for enough understanding to act confidently.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Early promise does not guarantee later good judgment. The two ages make a contrast between how someone first appears and how they may develop.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A person may achieve more than an initial estimate suggests. The apparent contradiction encourages reconsidering a limit, without denying real constraints or demanding that someone exceed a safe and sustainable capacity.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
You can provide an opportunity, guidance or encouragement, but another person must choose whether to take part. The horse image distinguishes making something available from being able to compel a willing response.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Respect for the great described as paving a route to greatness connects regard for others with one’s own hoped-for standing. The saying values acknowledgment of an admired example.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A person without a trade compared with a fruitless tree gives an acquired occupation a productive value. The saying measures contribution through a livelihood image.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Learning confined to books can leave a person poorly prepared for a practical situation. The saying’s insult should be replaced by a fair question about application.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Someone newly taking on a role may begin with energy and a wish to improve things. The new broom pictures that fresh effort, without guaranteeing lasting results or making an established worker inherently less effective.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying values a picture at a thousand words. It emphasises how an image can communicate much at once.
Read the explanation and example ↗