proverb · Traditional
"Care not," would have.
The saying puts a claim of not caring beside a wish to have something. Its compact contrast suggests indifference may coexist with desire.
Read the explanation and example ↗Words worth understanding
What does it mean?
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.
Explore the meanings
proverb · Traditional
"Hardly ever" saves many a lie.
A careful qualification such as hardly ever can prevent an exaggerated claim from becoming false. Use it when it accurately describes the exceptions, rather than as a convenient way to hide them.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
"He that wolde not when he might, He shall not when he wold-a."
An opportunity refused while available may be absent when later wanted. The reversal of might and would makes changed timing central to the warning.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
"Say well," and "do well," end with one letter; To say well, it is well, but to do well is better.
Good words are valuable, but doing the promised or useful thing gives them practical substance. The wordplay between say well and do well favours follow-through, without making thoughtful speech useless.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
"Sour grapes," as the fox said when he could not reach them.
Someone may dismiss a desired thing after finding they cannot obtain it. The unreachable grapes picture a change in the account of its value, without proving that every negative judgement after disappointment is dishonest.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
“Though I am not edible,” says the vulture, “yet I nurse my eggs in the branches of a high tree because man cannot be trusted”.
A vulture protecting eggs despite not being edible gives distrust a reason beyond one apparent motive for harm. The saying questions safety inferred from a single feature.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
"Welcome death," quoth the rat, when the trap fell down.
The saying gives a trapped rat the words welcome death. The unexpected welcome can be read as resignation in an image of an apparently closed escape.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad bush is better than the open field.
Imperfect protection can be preferable to having none. The bush and open field contrast limited shelter with exposure, without proving that any poor option is acceptable or that a better alternative cannot be found.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad custom is like a good cake, better broken than kept.
A harmful habit or convention deserves to be broken rather than preserved. The joke compares breaking a custom with cutting into a good cake, challenging the idea that keeping something intact is always a virtue.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad day never hath a good night.
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.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad excuse is better than none at all.
An inadequate explanation may seem preferable to offering none. The proverb values some response over silence, but a bad excuse can also mislead or weaken trust; it is not permission to invent a justification.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad hair cut is two people’s shame.
A bad haircut described as two people’s shame gives an unsatisfactory result a shared embarrassment. The saying points toward both sides of an encounter.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad penny always comes back.
The saying makes a bad penny return repeatedly. As a human analogy, it describes an unwelcome person or matter reappearing.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad work man blames his tools.
The saying pictures an unsuccessful worker blaming their tools. It questions an explanation that shifts responsibility away from skill or conduct.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
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
A bad wound heals, but a bad word doesn’t.
A wound healing while a bad word does not contrasts bodily injury with the persistence of hurtful speech. The saying gives words an enduring consequence in its image.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bald head is soon shaven.
A task is soon finished when little remains to be done. The bald-head image emphasises the small amount of work, rather than establishing that quick completion proves unusual skill or that appearances reveal a person’s abilities.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bargain is a bargain.
An agreement should be taken seriously once it has been made. The repetition gives the commitment weight, while leaving room to examine whether the terms were understood, fair and within the participants’ ability to fulfil.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A beggar can never be bankrupt.
Having nothing is presented as leaving nothing further to lose through bankruptcy. The paradox may question dependence on possessions, but it understates the insecurity of poverty and should not suggest that deprivation offers freedom from risk or a desirable condition.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bicycle can't stand on its own because it's two-tired.
The line jokes that a bicycle cannot stand because it is two-tired. It uses a sound-alike between having two tyres and being too tired.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A big nose never spoiled a handsome face.
One feature does not determine the overall appeal or value of a person. A whole impression can differ from a judgment focused narrowly on one detail.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bird can roost upon but one branch.
Some choices compete for the same time or attention. Recognise when you cannot occupy two places or fulfil incompatible commitments at once.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · Miguel De Cervantes
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
A benefit you already possess may be worth more than a larger benefit you only hope to obtain. Weigh a secure result against the chance of losing it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A bird makes his nest little by little.
The saying makes a bird’s nest take shape little by little. As an explicit analogy, modest repeated contributions can build a larger result.
Read the explanation and example ↗