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
The rhyme assigns rest to the period after dinner and a mile’s walk to the period after supper. It presents a memorable contrast in post-meal activity.
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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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A difficult period may be followed by more favourable conditions. The weather comparison offers perspective and hope, without promising that every hardship ends quickly or that waiting alone will resolve what needs attention.
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Locking a barn after a cow is stolen gives a precaution an image of arriving after a loss. The saying questions delayed prevention.
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The saying puts calm after a storm. As an analogy, it offers hope that a period of difficulty can give way to relief.
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Age leading through experience and knowledge to wisdom forms a hopeful chain of development. The saying values learning from accumulated life.
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The saying pictures agues arriving on horseback and departing on foot. It contrasts a rapid onset with a slower imagined recovery through two ways of travelling.
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The saying gives good things an ending. It reminds a reader that an enjoyable period may be temporary.
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The saying gives every good thing an ending. It reminds a reader that an enjoyable situation may be temporary.
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The phrase promises good luck throughout a day. It gives a favourable expectation a complete span without explaining a cause or condition.
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Things continually change and pass away in the saying’s broad picture of life. It encourages awareness that a present condition need not last, without making change a guarantee of improvement or a reason to abandon commitments.
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The saying promises all things to those who wait. It praises patience through an exaggerated claim of eventual fulfilment.
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The saying makes everything grow with time except grief. It offers an image of sorrow becoming less rather than increasing.
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Angry time counted as lost happy time contrasts two emotional experiences. The saying places a cost on dwelling in anger.
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Wanting a long life while resisting the label old contrasts a desired future with discomfort about its description. The saying questions attitudes toward ageing.
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The rhyme presents a spring ague as medicine fit for a king. It gives a feverish illness a surprising positive value rather than simply treating it as misfortune.
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The saying values one morning hour as two evening hours. It praises earlier work through a doubled comparison.
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The saying claims that a bad stake remains standing longest. As an explicit analogy, an unwelcome or poor thing may persist beyond what someone expects.
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Some opportunities depend on a moment that cannot be recreated once it has passed. The saying draws attention to timing, while its absolute wording should not rule out repair, another opportunity or a changed way to meet the same purpose.
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The saying presents an old fox as already knowing craft. It values experience as a source of shrewdness or skill.
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Something long used may need repeated repair. The worn sack gives maintenance a concrete image and suggests the limits of simply patching an ageing arrangement.
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An older woman troubled by mention of dry bones links a reminder with personal unease in a harsh age-related image. The saying asks what a subject may evoke for its listener.
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A troubled beginning need not prevent a person from developing good judgment and conduct. The saying leaves room for growth beyond an early label.
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Anticipating good so as to enjoy it gives expectation a role in appreciating a hoped-for event. The saying welcomes a forward-looking source of pleasure.
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