Words worth understanding
Start with the thought in plain English. Then examine its imagery, practical application and limitations.
2,058 selected entries have editorial explanations. An explanation is not independent authentication of an attribution. Start with the individually source-checked classics ↗
proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Someone with trusted access may be harder to guard against than an outsider. Protection should consider internal access and accountability as well as external barriers.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
The paradox that enough requires too much questions how a margin is judged. It may picture wanting surplus or preparing beyond an exact minimum.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Once a person has already accepted a loss or stain, further exposure may feel less costly. That feeling can encourage an escalation whose real consequences still matter.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
The hearer can exercise judgement even when the speaker does not. The saying places responsibility for a response with the listener rather than making another person’s manner dictate it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
What is visible now may not show all that someone has available. The speaker’s other coat challenges a conclusion drawn from the single garment an observer can see.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
The speaker rejects what is being offered and tells the other person to try it elsewhere. The bone and another dog express refusal to accept a proposal, without proving that the proposal is dishonest.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Beginning at the wrong point can make a task unnecessarily difficult. Understand the sequence and dependencies before putting effort into an inconvenient starting place.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A small gain may not justify a larger expense. Compare the value of what you are trying to recover with the resources spent in the search.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A complaint of scarcity may overlook resources already available. Check what can actually be used before concluding that a situation offers nothing.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Beginning a task without an important implement can make the intended result difficult to obtain. The gathering image asks what preparation is needed before setting out.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
A method that lacks its essential working part cannot accomplish the task expected of it. The dead ferret makes the mismatch between the proposed hunt and its means unmistakable.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Affection and sound judgement are distinct, even when both matter in a relationship. A strong feeling does not by itself settle what is wise, fair or workable.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
The offer of cake to someone with a pie in the oven pictures giving where provision already exists. It invites attention to how help is distributed.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
The contrast questions eagerness for benefits alongside reluctance to contribute. Shivering at work and sweating at meals are caricatured images, not reliable evidence of someone’s character or physical condition.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Pause before speaking so that the words fit the facts and the situation. The seven turns emphasise deliberate care rather than a literal counting rule.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Two people thinking together may find an answer that one person misses. Different observations and checking each other’s reasoning can improve a decision.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A small undertaking can produce valuable results. Assess the quality and usefulness of its output rather than assuming that a larger scale is always better.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
When hardship turns usual companions against each other, conditions may be severe. The wolves’ conflict depicts breakdown under pressure rather than recommending predatory behaviour.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Positions of apparent strength can decline while disregarded things rise. The wall and dunghill contrast challenges confidence in a fixed hierarchy, without making lower status a sign of lesser human worth.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Enjoyment of a result begins before the work producing it has started. The roasting and sops image questions consuming an expected benefit as though it were already available.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
The same event can disadvantage one person and benefit another. Assess its effects from several positions instead of assuming that everyone shares your gain or loss.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
Enough should be assessed against an actual need. A modest amount can be sufficient, even when comparison with larger amounts makes it look inadequate.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
A person trying to catch another can become caught instead. The reversal cautions against assuming complete control of a scheme and invites attention to how an intended advantage might turn back on its maker.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
An expected benefit may have no real basis. The missing bacon hooks make the disappointment sharper: check what supports a promising expectation before assuming the reward is available.
Read the explanation and example ↗