The collection / 2,056 fragments
Traditional sayings from a documented English collection, with reviewed meanings for an expanding editorial selection.
Meaning: Having an interest pursued for enjoyment can add something worthwhile to life. The saying celebrates a hobby, without proving that everyone needs one or that a particular pastime guarantees happiness.
Meaning: People often have a favourite interest or recurring subject. Recognising it can help explain what repeatedly attracts their attention without reducing them to that one enthusiasm.
Meaning: An impressive covering does not by itself change what is underneath. The armour and hog contrast outward equipment with underlying qualities, but the animal comparison should not be used to dehumanise or ridicule a person.
Meaning: Do not announce success while an important difficulty remains unresolved. The call made before leaving the wood cautions against premature celebration, while allowing recognition of genuine progress on the way.
Meaning: A familiar home can have value even when it is plain or modest. The saying places belonging above impressive appearance, without assuming that every home is safe or telling someone to remain in an unsuitable situation.
Meaning: Honesty pursued only for personal advantage is different from honesty valued as a principle. The saying questions a motive that lasts only while truthful conduct appears to pay.
Meaning: The saying treats honesty as a virtue that is not spoiled simply by having more of it. Its exaggerated language praises integrity, while truthful conduct still requires care about privacy, timing and how words affect others.
Meaning: Material advantage may not be worth gaining through conduct that brings shame or harms others. The saying places integrity above wealth, rather than treating money as the only measure of a good life.
Meaning: Public distinction or a demanding responsibility may bring effort that conflicts with an easy life. The bedfellows image highlights a possible tension, without making exhaustion proof of merit or requiring someone to seek recognition.
Meaning: When worthwhile learning loses respect, people may have less reason or opportunity to pursue it. The saying connects recognition with the conditions that sustain knowledge.
Meaning: The saying gives one knock to the hoop and another to the barrel. Its balanced image can suggest alternating attention between two related sides rather than striking only one.
Meaning: The saying claims that hope can make someone more humble than despair does. Expecting something still to come may place a person in a position of waiting or dependence.
Meaning: Hope can help you begin, but it cannot replace the practical result you need by the end. Let optimism support action rather than become the only thing sustaining a plan.
Meaning: Hope can sustain someone through a difficult period by leaving room for a better possibility. The saying recognises its emotional value without proving that the hoped-for outcome will arrive.
Meaning: The saying withholds certainty about a hop yield until a named calendar point has passed. It emphasises waiting before deciding whether the hoped-for provision exists.
Meaning: Displaying the signs of a role does not prove someone can carry it out. Blowing the horn and being a hunter distinguish appearance from demonstrated ability, without making every visible symbol misleading.
Meaning: An irrelevant feature of appearance should not make a capable person or useful thing seem inferior. The horse’s colour challenges a superficial judgment, while leaving relevant evidence about suitability open to examination.
Meaning: Even a capable person may benefit from a timely prompt or encouragement. The good horse and spur distinguish ability from readiness to act, without making harsh treatment or constant pressure the way to obtain good work.
Meaning: A resource should be considered together with the support needed to keep it useful. The horse carrying its own provisions pictures a capability that does not consume all the effort of those relying on it.
Meaning: You can provide an opportunity or support, but you cannot make another person choose to use it. Their motivation and decision remain outside your full control.
Meaning: The saying associates a hot May with a full churchyard. It makes a month’s warmth an ominous sign of deaths without providing a measured relationship.
Meaning: Do not present yourself as committed to incompatible sides without addressing the conflict. Hounds and hare give opposed directions to the same person, without requiring rigid loyalty when circumstances or duties change.
Meaning: An already completed undertaking may include useful details that would take effort to provide separately. The finished house pictures the value of work already done.
Meaning: An occasional shortage of space may be preferable to the continuing burden of having more than is needed. The house image compares a temporary inconvenience with a lasting commitment, rather than prescribing an ideal home size.