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
An extremely distant destination suggests an undertaking of considerable scale. The expression can call attention to how far a task reaches, without treating the world as having a literal endpoint or promising that every journey is worth completing.
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A delayed result may still have value when it eventually arrives. The saying counters treating lateness as complete loss, while timing can remain essential and an eventual arrival does not automatically repair every consequence of delay.
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Starting early can help you obtain an opportunity before others reach it. Timely preparation or action may matter as much as waiting for ideal conditions.
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Saving cannot preserve a resource once it has already been exhausted. The bare bottom of a container makes the warning about timing concrete.
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An opportunity refused while available may be absent when later wanted. The reversal of might and would makes changed timing central to the warning.
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A difficult day can cast a shadow over the evening that follows. The saying expresses how trouble carries on in experience, but its word never is an exaggeration: later rest, support or a change of circumstances can still help.
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The saying makes a bad penny return repeatedly. As a human analogy, it describes an unwelcome person or matter reappearing.
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Some choices compete for the same time or attention. Recognise when you cannot occupy two places or fulfil incompatible commitments at once.
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A small useful provision made early may be better than waiting all day with none. The morning morsel image values something available, without making any small response adequate for a larger need.
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The saying values a change as highly as a rest. It presents variety as a possible alternative source of renewal.
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A future cock identifiable on hatching imagines later potential visible from an early sign. The saying favours recognising what a beginning may suggest.
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The saying regards a cold April as a sign of a well-filled barn later. It turns an unwelcome immediate condition into a hoped-for harvest benefit.
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The saying connects cold, windy May weather with a full barn later. It expresses confidence that the named conditions will produce ample provision.
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The saying expects a cold May to be followed by plenty of corn and hay. The short rhyme makes an uncomfortable condition a promise of provision.
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Something that appears frail may last longer than observers expect. The creaking-gate image questions confident predictions from outward signs, rather than promising durability, dismissing a real fault or forecasting a person’s health.
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The saying calls a day without laughter lost. It places a strong value on moments of enjoyment.
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One sorrowful day longer than a joyful month contrasts the felt duration of difficult and welcome experience. The saying makes emotional time vivid.
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The saying claims that dry May followed by wet June brings things into good order. The musical phrase gives the weather sequence an image of harmony.
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The saying ranks a dull pencil above the sharpest memory. It values making a record over relying entirely on recollection.
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Spending heavily on present comforts can leave fewer resources for later purposes. A generous kitchen is contrasted with a small remainder.
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A goal without a deadline called only a wish contrasts a planned undertaking with an indefinite aspiration. The saying values a concrete arrangement for action.
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The saying expects a good winter to lead to a good summer. It carries a favourable judgment from one season into the next without defining what good means.
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The saying expects a fresh wound to heal soon. It links newness with a short period of recovery, without defining the wound or the conditions involved.
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A happy marriage as a long conversation that feels short pictures sustained companionship as absorbing and welcome. The image values shared engagement.
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