proverb · Traditional
A spark can start a great fire.
The saying grows a great fire from a spark. As an analogy, a small beginning may have large consequences.
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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.
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225 matching explanations
proverb · Traditional
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay, But a swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly.
The saying values an earlier swarm of bees far more than a later one. The load of hay and worthless fly exaggerate the contrast between timing and expected benefit.
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A tree never hits a car except in self-defense.
A tree hitting a car only in self-defence reverses ordinary responsibility in a comic collision scene. The tree is given the role of a responding actor.
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A true cowboy is gentle with children, the elderly and animals.
Gentleness toward children, older people and animals is presented as an authentic cowboy quality. The saying gives care a place in its ideal of strength.
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A wet August never brings dearth.
The saying claims that a wet August prevents scarcity. Its absolute promise makes an expected relationship between rain and provision stronger than the wording can prove.
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A wind from the south has rain in its mouth.
The rhyme gives a south wind rain in its mouth. It personifies a wind direction as carrying wet weather.
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A windy March and a rainy April make a beautiful May.
The saying links March wind and April rain with a beautiful May. It gives early weather a role in preparing a pleasing later season.
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After Lammas corn ripens as much by night as by day.
The saying claims that after Lammas corn ripens equally by night and day. It marks a later growth stage through a calendar observance.
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All cats are grey in the dark.
The saying makes all cats grey in darkness. As an explicit analogy, outward differences are pictured as becoming less apparent in a shared condition.
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All seeds answer light, but the color is different.
Seeds answering light with different colours pair a shared influence with varied results. The saying gives difference a place within a common response.
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All trees are made out of wood, but pine is not mahogany.
Pine and mahogany distinguished despite both being wood illustrate differences within a shared category. The saying warns against treating common membership as sameness.
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Always drink upstream from the herd.
Drinking upstream from a herd gives direction a role in choosing where to take water. As an image, it asks attention to what influences a resource before it reaches someone.
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An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The rhyme makes one daily apple keep a doctor away. It promotes a simple food habit through an exaggerated health promise.
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An elephant never forgets.
The saying gives an elephant a memory that never fails. It uses an animal image to praise exceptionally strong recollection.
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An evening red and a morning grey, Is a sign of a fair day.
The saying links a red evening and grey morning with a fair day. It combines two sky descriptions into one favourable expectation.
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An onion can make people cry, however there’s never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.
An onion causing tears contrasted with no vegetable causing laughter makes a joke about unequal emotional effects. The saying juxtaposes ordinary food with a sweeping humour claim.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · Geoffrey Chaucer
And smale foules maken melodie, That slepen alle night with open eye, So priketh hem nature in hir corages; Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages.
Small birds sing as nature stirs their instincts, and people too feel a renewed desire to set out on journeys. The difficult words describe springtime energy, not foolish people or bravery.
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April and May are the keys of the year.
The saying treats April and May as decisive months for what the rest of the year will yield. Keys picture their conditions as opening or closing later possibilities.
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April borrows three days of March, and they are ill.
A few unpleasant April days are imagined as borrowed from March. The months are personified to describe weather that seems out of place in the new season.
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As Busy As a Bee.
The phrase compares a busy person with a bee. It gives much activity a vivid animal image.
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As Hungry as a Horse.
The phrase compares strong hunger with a horse. It uses an animal image to emphasise appetite rather than measure it.
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As welcome as the flowers in May.
A person or event is warmly welcomed as a pleasing arrival. May flowers give the welcome an image of freshness and delight.
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At twelfth-day the days are lengthened a cock's stride.
The saying pictures the days lengthening by a cock’s stride at Twelfth Day. A tiny animal movement stands for a modest seasonal change.
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August dry and warm, Harvest doth no harm.
The saying regards a dry, warm August as favourable to harvest. Its reassuring wording expresses a seasonal expectation rather than a complete assessment of crop conditions.
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