The collection / 3,980 fragments
Traditional sayings from a documented English collection, with reviewed meanings for an expanding editorial selection.
Meaning: Purposeful activity can give life interest and structure, as salt adds flavour. Here business can be read as having something to do, without making paid employment the only valuable activity or treating constant busyness as a virtue.
Meaning: People may need to act according to the particular responsibilities or circumstances before them. The saying invites attention to the task that actually belongs to someone, without making occupation the whole of their identity.
Meaning: 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.
Meaning: Visible busyness can be out of proportion to the work that needs doing. The saying questions an appearance of activity, without proving that an observer knows someone’s full workload or that every unproductive-looking task is pointless.
Meaning: The saying prefers paying for meat to paying a doctor. It gives food provision priority through a contrast with the expense of illness.
Meaning: The saying ranks butter differently across the day: gold in the morning, silver at noon and lead at night. The metal sequence makes its imagined value decline with time.
Meaning: An apparently innocent or composed manner can invite scepticism about what someone has done. The butter image is a pointed comment on appearances, not proof that a quiet person is deceptive.
Meaning: A modest supply may be too small to satisfy many demands. The butter-and-hounds image asks whether the amount available fits the number and scale of needs placed upon it.
Meaning: The saying puts butter in a cow’s horn once a year. It presents an unusual placement as a rare occurrence, without explaining the custom or circumstance intended.
Meaning: Someone understands where their advantage comes from and acts to protect it. The saying often points to self-interest behind a choice, especially when loyalty or agreement brings a benefit.
Meaning: Inspect what you are agreeing to acquire before committing. An unseen or poorly understood offer may turn out to be different from what you expected.
Meaning: Someone considering a purchase should examine what is being offered rather than rely only on its appeal. The saying encourages informed questions, while leaving sellers responsible for honest descriptions and avoiding blame when deception or unequal information prevents a fair choice.
Meaning: A person accepting an item may need to examine it more carefully than the person offering it. Do not assume the giver’s or seller’s knowledge makes your own questions unnecessary.
Meaning: You cannot use up a benefit and still keep it available. Some desirable outcomes conflict, so a decision requires accepting what you give up.
Meaning: Easy conditions can make a task seem simpler than it is. The calm sea allows anyone to appear capable at the helm, cautioning against judging skill solely by an occasion that required little adjustment.
Meaning: The saying regards calm June weather as helping corn develop well. Setting it in tune turns crop growth into a harmonious musical image.
Meaning: A person may achieve more than an initial estimate suggests. The apparent contradiction encourages reconsidering a limit, without denying real constraints or demanding that someone exceed a safe and sustainable capacity.
Meaning: Do not use your energy so intensely that little remains for rest and recovery. Too many demands at once can make a busy period difficult to sustain.
Meaning: The saying advises keeping half the straw and hay at Candlemas. It makes a calendar point a check on whether provisions remain for later use.
Meaning: The saying reverses the apparent meaning of Candlemas weather: sunshine foretells more winter, while showers promise its end. It is a date-based forecasting rhyme.
Meaning: Snow after Candlemas is pictured as lying on a hot stone. The image suggests a fragile or short-lived covering rather than a lasting return of winter.
Meaning: The rhyme makes a husband dread a clear, pleasant Candlemas as strongly as his wife’s death. It exaggerates the fear attached to a calendar-weather sign.
Meaning: The saying imagines Candlemas as the point when candles can be put aside. Throwing away the candle and holder exaggerates a sense of reduced need for them.
Meaning: If a criticism or description accurately applies to you, acknowledge it and consider your response. The fitting cap invites self-recognition, but resemblance alone does not make every accusation fair or correct.