proverb · Words worth keeping
Different strokes for different folks.
Different strokes for different folks.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying gives different people different strokes. It recognises varied preferences or needs rather than expecting one approach to suit everyone.
What the words are saying
The repeated different makes variation the point. A useful application can ask what a particular person needs without assuming a stereotype defines them. The phrase does not make every preference equally workable or remove responsibility for effects on others.
Everyday example
An organiser offers suitable ways to participate after asking what people need.
When to use it
Use it to discuss differences with attention to individuals and consequences.
What it does not mean
Difference does not remove the need to assess suitability and effects on others.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 370; PDF page 56
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.