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 saying imagines exceptional reliability through a horse that never stumbles and a wife who never complains. Its standard of perfect performance and silence needs questioning.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A resource should be considered together with the support needed to keep it useful. The horse carrying its own provisions pictures a capability that does not consume all the effort of those relying on it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
A costly method can be disproportionate to the value of what it obtains. The silver shovel and lead invite a comparison between means and result, rather than assuming that any successful effort is worth its expense.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
An attractive possibility is not yet an achieved result. The good fish still needing to be caught distinguishes what might be valuable from what is actually available to use.
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A demanding undertaking needs means capable of supporting it. The tiny eggshell set against the sea pictures an unsuitable arrangement, rather than proving that every ambitious plan or modest beginning must fail.
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Even apparently pleasant conditions may have an unwanted effect. The saying expresses regret that what seems favourable can still create difficulty.
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A protected situation can make an activity seem easier or safer than it would elsewhere. The good haven pictures favourable conditions, without proving that confidence there will transfer to an exposed setting.
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Describing an action can be much easier than carrying it out. Consider the effort, resources and difficulties behind a proposal before treating a simple instruction as a complete solution.
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An observed tendency may help explain why something behaves as it does. The saying can encourage realistic expectations, but calling it the nature of the beast should not excuse harmful conduct or declare a person incapable of change.
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Saving cannot preserve a resource once it has already been exhausted. The bare bottom of a container makes the warning about timing concrete.
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A careful qualification such as hardly ever can prevent an exaggerated claim from becoming false. Use it when it accurately describes the exceptions, rather than as a convenient way to hide them.
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An opportunity refused while available may be absent when later wanted. The reversal of might and would makes changed timing central to the warning.
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Someone may dismiss a desired thing after finding they cannot obtain it. The unreachable grapes picture a change in the account of its value, without proving that every negative judgement after disappointment is dishonest.
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A vulture protecting eggs despite not being edible gives distrust a reason beyond one apparent motive for harm. The saying questions safety inferred from a single feature.
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Imperfect protection can be preferable to having none. The bush and open field contrast limited shelter with exposure, without proving that any poor option is acceptable or that a better alternative cannot be found.
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A harmful habit or convention deserves to be broken rather than preserved. The joke compares breaking a custom with cutting into a good cake, challenging the idea that keeping something intact is always a virtue.
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The saying makes a bad penny return repeatedly. As a human analogy, it describes an unwelcome person or matter reappearing.
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The saying pictures an unsuccessful worker blaming their tools. It questions an explanation that shifts responsibility away from skill or conduct.
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A task is soon finished when little remains to be done. The bald-head image emphasises the small amount of work, rather than establishing that quick completion proves unusual skill or that appearances reveal a person’s abilities.
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Having nothing is presented as leaving nothing further to lose through bankruptcy. The paradox may question dependence on possessions, but it understates the insecurity of poverty and should not suggest that deprivation offers freedom from risk or a desirable condition.
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The line jokes that a bicycle cannot stand because it is two-tired. It uses a sound-alike between having two tyres and being too tired.
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Some choices compete for the same time or attention. Recognise when you cannot occupy two places or fulfil incompatible commitments at once.
Read the explanation and example ↗quote · Miguel De Cervantes
A benefit you already possess may be worth more than a larger benefit you only hope to obtain. Weigh a secure result against the chance of losing it.
Read the explanation and example ↗proverb · Traditional
An outward difference need not make one thing less good than another. The contrasting plums encourage judging what matters beyond appearance, without claiming that all differences are irrelevant or that their qualities must be identical.
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