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
Art and knowledge bringing bread and honour link skill and understanding with livelihood and recognition. The saying values learning through hoped-for practical outcomes.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying compares repeated folly with a dog returning to its vomit. The repellent image criticises going back to a harmful or regretted action.
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An unsuccessful effort can seem no better than doing nothing. The saying voices that discouragement, while inviting a closer look at what an attempt may still teach.
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The phrase compares inexperience with green grass. In the supplied context, it describes people unfamiliar with a task.
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People may copy the habits and manner of those they observe. Those setting an example should consider what their conduct invites others to repeat.
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A young cock learning from an old cock’s crow gives example a role in learning across experience. The saying imagines a pattern received from another.
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Early influences may leave a lasting direction in someone’s habits. The inclined tree develops the bent-twig image, without proving that a person cannot change or that upbringing explains every later choice.
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Everything appearing difficult at first gives unfamiliar beginnings a demanding character. The saying offers perspective on early uncertainty.
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People without direct responsibility can imagine managing it perfectly. The imaginary wives and children expose the ease of confident advice before experience, without proving that unmarried or childless people cannot offer useful observations.
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Barbers learning by shaving people called fools imagines skill gained at a customer’s expense. The saying questions who bears the cost of someone else’s practice.
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The phrase describes barking at the wrong tree. It points to pursuing a mistaken target or line of inquiry.
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The saying urges bravery and risk-taking while calling experience irreplaceable. It values firsthand involvement over remaining entirely outside an undertaking.
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Not understanding given priority over being misunderstood redirects attention from reputation to one’s own knowledge. The saying values inquiry instead of only correcting others’ impressions.
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Avoid adopting an untested change merely for novelty or retaining an old approach after it no longer serves. Judge the evidence and purpose rather than making timing itself the rule.
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The saying contrasts learning with wise companions and decline among people it calls fools. It emphasises the possible influence of company.
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Early guidance can shape later habits while they are still developing. The flexible twig pictures that opportunity, without establishing that a person’s future is fixed or that harsh discipline is justified.
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An early mistake preferred to a late one highlights the possible advantage of discovering a problem while there is time to respond. It values timely correction.
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Cherries given to a pig preferred to advice given to a fool exaggerates frustration with counsel that seems unused. The saying questions an offer’s usefulness.
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Poor instruction can leave someone with mistakes that need to be unlearned. The saying warns about teaching quality rather than making ignorance an ideal.
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A lesson learned through a costly mistake can be especially memorable. Experience may sharpen judgement when the person reflects on what the mistake revealed.
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A lesson that costs something can make its consequences easier to remember. The saying values learning from experience, without requiring costly mistakes or treating every painful experience as an improvement.
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Habitual neglect can make harmful habits easier to acquire. The saying treats drifting away from useful activity as a kind of unintended learning.
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Doing said to produce conviction links engagement with a firmer sense of a task or idea. The saying values what experience may add to an initial understanding.
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A game learned after its players disperse contrasts delayed understanding with an opportunity that has passed. The saying warns through an insulting label about timing and readiness.
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