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
A difficult course may eventually change direction, like a long lane reaching a turn. The saying offers hope for change without proving that every hardship will soon resolve.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A delayed result may still have value when it eventually arrives. The saying counters treating lateness as complete loss, while timing can remain essential and an eventual arrival does not automatically repair every consequence of delay.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying makes a bird’s nest take shape little by little. As an explicit analogy, modest repeated contributions can build a larger result.
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The saying solders a broken friendship but denies that it becomes sound. It presents repaired trust as permanently weakened.
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Wanting a benefit while refusing the effort it requires can leave the wish unfulfilled. Consider which inconveniences are genuinely necessary to obtain what you want.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Even a capable person may benefit from a timely prompt or encouragement. The good horse and spur distinguish ability from readiness to act, without making harsh treatment or constant pressure the way to obtain good work.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying puts a single first step at the beginning of a thousand-mile journey. It makes a large undertaking approachable through an initial action.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Harm may be caused more quickly than it can be repaired. The saying encourages care before an action, while recognising that recovery or restored trust can require time without following one fixed timetable.
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Endurance has limits. A person may keep accepting burdens until the strain becomes more than they can carry, so willingness should not be mistaken for unlimited capacity.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional proverb
Progress is pictured as a sequence of movements through temporary instability. The image can encourage a person to see adjustment as part of moving forward, without celebrating harmful mistakes or claiming that every setback is necessary.
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Small repeated efforts can gradually overcome a larger obstacle. Notice cumulative progress rather than assuming that an action is useless because one attempt has little visible effect.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
Repeated small savings can add up. The daily pin and yearly coin turn an apparently minor act into an image of accumulation over time.
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Repeated disruption can make it harder for something to establish itself. The transplanted plant gives continuity a vivid image.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional proverb
Worry alone does not discharge an obligation. The heavy weight of care is contrasted with the small weight of debt to distinguish emotional burden from the practical steps that can address what is owed.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
An unpolished beginning does not settle what someone or something may become. The rough-looking young horse allows for development and care, without guaranteeing future success or excusing problems that need attention now.
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Waiting can feel slower when you constantly monitor the thing you are waiting for. Redirecting your attention may make an unavoidable delay easier to tolerate, without changing its actual duration.
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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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The saying puts calm after a storm. As an analogy, it offers hope that a period of difficulty can give way to relief.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
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.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying calls every beginning hard. It gives difficulty at the outset a place in the experience of starting.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying gives every good thing an ending. It reminds a reader that an enjoyable situation may be temporary.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional (French-language collection)
A delay does not necessarily cancel an opportunity. Something postponed may remain possible, so distinguish waiting from a definite refusal before deciding how to proceed.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
The saying promises all things to those who wait. It praises patience through an exaggerated claim of eventual fulfilment.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A substantial task may need repeated effort rather than one attempt. The oak and single blow picture the scale of the work, without guaranteeing that repetition alone will succeed or giving instructions for cutting down a tree.
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