Proverbs and their meanings.

Meaning: Passing up a joke can be wiser than hurting a friend for a moment’s amusement. Consider the person affected before deciding that a clever remark must be said.

Meaning: A joke can contain a sincere observation or concern. Listen for what may be meant beneath the humour, while avoiding the assumption that every playful remark reveals a hidden truth.

Meaning: A falsehood told as a joke can still cause real trouble when someone believes it or is hurt by it. Calling it a joke does not remove the need to consider its effects.

Meaning: Something offered as amusing or pleasing can leave an unpleasant result. The sweetmeat and sour-sauce contrast warns that a joke’s enjoyable surface may differ from its effect on the people involved.

Meaning: 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.

Meaning: Even a happy experience may contain something that reduces its pleasure. Alloy pictures an admixture rather than pure joy; the saying describes a familiar mixture, not a proof that untroubled happiness is impossible.

Meaning: Enjoyment pushed too far can become unpleasant. Surfeiting turns a welcome experience into an excess that defeats its original pleasure.

Meaning: Do not make a settled judgement from an initial appearance alone. Gather relevant information before deciding, while still responding appropriately to a clear immediate concern.

Meaning: Do not judge a work only by how it appears before it is ready for use. The unfinished ship invites patience with the stage of construction, while leaving room for useful checks and criticism along the way.

Meaning: Good judgement includes readiness to question your own conclusion. The saying values self-checking, without requiring constant indecision or treating confidence as proof that someone has failed to think carefully.

Meaning: The saying claims that rain on the first of July predicts more rain over four weeks. It turns one day’s condition into a prolonged expectation.

Meaning: Fair dealing and honesty are presented as mutually supporting qualities. The mirrored words connect truthful conduct with treating people justly.

Meaning: An object that seems unnecessary now may become useful later. The seven-year claim exaggerates that possibility, rather than giving a dependable timetable or requiring someone to keep every unused possession.

Meaning: Keeping a portion of what is available can help bridge the interval before another supply arrives. The saying values continuity, while a reserve is only possible when there is enough to retain and cannot make a future supply certain.

Meaning: Some rewards cannot be obtained without first meeting a necessary condition. The kernel inside a nut gives a concrete image of that condition; this wording expresses the same broad idea as the archive’s other nut-and-kernel saying.

Editorial context: This places household responsibility chiefly with the wife. Recognising domestic contribution should not make it a compulsory sole duty.

Meaning: The saying presents the wife as central to the household’s functioning. It can recognise domestic contribution, while also reflecting an expectation that responsibility for the home belongs chiefly to her.

Meaning: No single person holds every means of solving a problem or gaining access. The keys suggest that knowledge, authority and opportunity may be distributed, so another person or route may help when one option fails.

Meaning: The saying urges loyalty to family through both easy and difficult circumstances. A careful reading supports dependable care without making kinship a reason to conceal wrongdoing, accept harm or deny someone’s boundaries.

Meaning: Something previously active may be easier to revive than something never started. The partly-burnt wood suggests a remaining disposition or trace, without proving that old feelings, disputes or habits will inevitably return.

Meaning: Kindness may ease hostility and invite a more cooperative response. Try consideration where it can help, while recognising that warmth does not reliably change every person or situation.

Meaning: Acts of kindness can encourage further kindness, like planted grain producing more grain. A considerate action may spread through example or reciprocity beyond its immediate benefit.

Meaning: Having many relatives does not necessarily mean having many dependable friends. Support and closeness depend on the relationship people build, rather than on a family connection alone.

Meaning: Attention directed toward one person may be intended to please someone connected with them. The child and nurse picture indirect favour, without proving that every friendly gesture has a hidden or dishonest motive.

Meaning: Spending heavily on present comforts can leave fewer resources for later purposes. A generous kitchen is contrasted with a small remainder.