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 (French-language collection)
An intention or announcement can be far from its fulfilment. Judge a commitment by the steps needed and the action taken, not by words alone.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Some arrangements need a clear present decision rather than contradictory signals. Decide what applies now so that others can act with a shared understanding.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
An attractive setting cannot replace the essentials needed to live or work within it. Consider whether an impressive arrangement actually provides the support it appears to promise.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
A reliable payer may inspire confidence without an additional guarantee. The saying links trust to conduct, without recommending unsecured lending or making someone’s ability to pay a measure of personal worth.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Clear boundaries can protect a close relationship by preventing avoidable disagreement. Trust and explicit arrangements can work together instead of being treated as opposing choices.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Enjoyment can absorb attention so completely that important family relationships are neglected. The warning concerns forgotten obligations, without making pleasure or independence inherently wrong.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
An incorrect calculation does not become valid because someone relies on it. Check an error and correct the result rather than treating a mistaken account as settled.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A refusal preferred to a broken promise values an honest limit over an assurance that is not fulfilled. It asks for care before taking on a commitment.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
An appetite that takes too much calls for an appropriate limit. The horse and halter offer an image of managing excess, without making restraint a licence to control other people harshly.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
The person offering advice may not bear its cost. Consider who will pay, work or face the consequences before accepting a recommendation, without dismissing useful outside judgement.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
An enjoyable celebration can leave costs or unfinished responsibilities that become apparent afterwards. The puzzled gesture suggests reckoning with consequences, rather than treating pleasure itself as a mistake.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
A supply is depleted when people continually draw from it without replenishment. The bottom of the container makes a limit visible, inviting attention to how a shared resource is maintained.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
A dependent can change the route or pace of a task. The ass and her colt make an apparently indirect journey understandable in relation to another creature’s needs.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying pairs honest pay with honest work. It presents fair compensation and a genuine contribution as matching responsibilities.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Powerful resources need capable and responsible handling. Arms and money put means with serious consequences beside the hands that decide how to use them.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Your choices can create conditions you later have to live with. Consider their consequences and take responsibility for the part you can control.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
An ineffective safeguard can leave an avoidable opportunity for loss. Review whether a precaution works in practice rather than assuming that its existence is enough.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Consider a commitment carefully before making it, then follow through without unnecessary delay. The contrast between slow promising and quick performing values realistic agreement and dependable action, rather than hesitation in every conversation.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A bell calls others toward an activity it cannot join. The image invites scrutiny of urging participation while remaining apart, but does not by itself prove hypocrisy.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
The saying places responsibility on those who shape a child’s surroundings and example. Read it as a call for attentive care, rather than a claim that children have no agency.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A community needs practical provision before it can sustain its larger activities. Shared ambitions depend on attending to ordinary needs such as food, facilities and daily organisation.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Knowing how many resources you have does not by itself protect or care for them. Measurement can support oversight, but it needs to be followed by suitable attention to what is being counted.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
When a task is within your own capacity, waiting for another person may needlessly delay it. The saying encourages taking an available step without making assistance or cooperation signs of weakness.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Someone arriving after a resource has been divided may find only leftovers. The bones image warns about distribution and timing without making that unequal result fair or deserved.
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