UKC

Whats your favorite?

Most I think are probably similar to the famous English ones, but one that did strike me a quite compelling was, 'you have the clocks, we have the time,' apparently an Afghan/ Taliban proverb used as an introduction to a documentary. Cant speculate as to its true origins.

In reply to GarethSL:

Que sera sera

Foreign maxims also welcome

In reply to GarethSL:

Yes sorry I see the difference now

In reply to GarethSL:

There's a Czech one which says 'not every day is a feast day'. I like to remind myself of that when having a less-good day.

In reply to GarethSL:

There is a French proverb that roughly translated goes: "there is an African proverb that says that for any situation, there is a fitting Chinese proverb"

In reply to GarethSL:

The Dutch have the expression 'sterkte'. When someone is going through a difficult time, you wish them sterkte - like wishing strength for someone in a positive supportive way.

In reply to drolex:

I like that! Do you have the original verse?

In reply to GarethSL:
One of the best books I've ever read derives it's name from a Hungarian expression, "a b£ka segge alatt" used to describe any situation when things can't seem to get any worse:

"under a frog's arse, down a coalmine".

(The book is "Under the frog" by Tibor Fischer and yes I'm aware that it's more a figure of speech than a proverb, but nonetheless I like it!)

In reply to GarethSL:

Probably well-known to UKC folk who've visited the Alps, but highly germane to climbing: French, supposedly originating with Breton fishermen -
"Qui trop regarde la météo
Passe sa vie au bistrot"
- and its converse:
"Horizon pas net? -
Reste a la buvette".

I hope translation is superfluous, since I can't think of how to do it in short pithy style. Cynical of me, but I've found that a good proportion of proverbs, maxims and wise saws come matched with another that flatly contradicts them.

In reply to GarethSL:

Not a proverb admittedly but I like "Namaste"; "I salute the god within you"

In reply to gribble:


They also say "Congratulations" to everyone else when it's your birthday. I don't think we can trust them too much...

In reply to GarethSL:

My brother saw a good one (Polish?) "Not my circus, not my monkeys...."

In reply to GarethSL:

Two figures of speech which I enjoy. One is Japanese I believe and translates to "it's so hot, that if the dogs were chasing the cats, both would be walking".

And another is an alternative to "The thin end of the wedge", which is "It's the camels nose under the canvas". Which I use whenever possible.

In reply to ablackett:

Both very nice!

In reply to GarethSL:


Confucius say "Irony not work on internet"

In reply to GarethSL:



Presumably now updated to "We have the timers"....

In reply to Chris Harris:

Dark, but a good chuckle

In reply to GarethSL:


My top favourite is "Take what you want and then pay for it" - Arab proverb

"Well begun is half done", Korean proverb [I know it is used elsewhere too]

In reply to GarethSL:

"No arms no cookies"

Not entirely sure of the origin but it always makes me giggle.... (I am a simple creature)

In reply to gribble:

I always like the Dutch one for 'now it all becomes clear' - "Now the monkey comes out of the sleeve".

In reply to GarethSL:

A couple I've heard along the way:

"You can't buy loyalty here, but you can rent it", ex Afghanistan.

"'Inshallah' is like 'Manana' but without the same compelling sense of urgency", ex anywhere in the Middle East where a non-Arab is trying to get something done.

In reply to GarethSL:

There's a Russian one that says something like a petty thief gets hung but a grand thief gets praised.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

And another Russian one usually applied to fuller figured women: "it's better to bounce than rattle"

In reply to GarethSL:
Italian:
La madre dei cretini é sempre incinta

The mother of idiots is always pregnant

In reply to GarethSL:

I like "you can't polish a turd ... But you can roll it in glitter"

In reply to GarethSL:
?Russian-
If one cannot catch the bird of paradise, better take a wet hen.

Welsh
Mae hi'n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn - It's raining old ladies and walking sticks...

In reply to GarethSL:

Il parle français comme une vache espagnole

In reply to Pedro50:


C'est la vie

In reply to GarethSL:

A couple of german ones..

Luegen haben kurze Beine. -'lies have short legs'


Er is bekannt wie ein bunter Hund - 'he's as well known as a colourful dog' or he knows everyone.
No I don't get it either..

In reply to paulcarey:

Everyone knows the pink dog.

In reply to GarethSL:

Told to me by a German ex: A good captain sails the red seas.

In reply to GarethSL:
Apparently an old Turkish saying:
A woman for duty
A boy for pleasure
A melon for ecstasy

I couldn't possibly comment

In reply to GarethSL:

A Czech saying apparently: "don't worry, you're not made of sugar". It's what I say to my kids when they complain they don't want to be outside when it's raining

In reply to Greenbanks:

I've seen the same proverb ascribed to the Greeks, but instead finishing with "For ecstasy, a goat".

I always liked the supposedly Russian defence against an inability to multi-task, "a man who tries to chase two hares, goes home hungry".

And, an apt one for anyone who has sport route sieges, "your elbow is close, yet you can't bite it" (i.e. roughly akin to "so near, but so far.... is still too far").

In reply to GarethSL:

One that gets used a lot at work here in Norway is: Å koke suppe på en spiker - to cook soup on a nail.

In reply to nniff:

"'Inshallah' is like 'Manana' but without the same compelling sense of urgency", ex anywhere in the Middle East where a non-Arab is trying to get something done.

"Inshallah" means "God willing" so conveys a little less certainty than "Manana".

The one I liked was in a TV documentary about the surfing lifestyle when the commentator said: "For these guys, the word "manana" has an air of catastrophic urgency!"

In reply to GarethSL:

Another Russian one I've been trying to remember:

Laughing without reason is the mark of a fool.

In reply to GarethSL:

Italian:
Nel culo della balena: "Up a whale's arse!" - Meaning good luck!!

In reply to GarethSL:

Again not a proverb and not foreign. (though Scots not English)

We're a' Jock Tamson's Bairns
Meaning roughly, we're all the same underneath, I believe.

Though no doubt many on here are already familiar with it, being a southerner I'd never heard it before and think it's rather beautiful.

In reply to GarethSL:

There's a Chinese one which translates (probably quite poorly) to...

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today."

I interpret that as "If there's something you wished you'd done get of your arse and do it now"!

In reply to GarethSL:

Dutch:

The monkey is out of the sleeve.

In reply to GarethSL:

A good German one "don't piss in my soup and tell me you're cooling it down" - if someone is trying to put a positive spin on a bad situation.


A simple Finnish one "shit happens when you party naked"

In reply to Trangia:

Il pet plus haute que son cul. (He farts higher than his arse).

In reply to Tall Clare:


I think something along the lines of 'A true friend prepares to be bitten (by a dog) in place of their companion' needs to come into usage.

In reply to Timmd:

Brave is the man who cleans the toilet.

Braver still the man who cleans the toilet brush.

Albanian I believe.

In reply to GarethSL:

There are a few Norwegian ones, the best one for me translates as
"Go and tell him where Adam bought the beer!!"

Basically give someone a piece of your mind...

In reply to Kemics:

I'm stealing both of those!

In reply to Kemics:


Brilliant!

In reply to GarethSL:

Consolation when I'm struggling up a mountain behind somebody fitter and faster than I am (which, alas, means most people nowadays):
"Chi va piano va sano; chi va sano va lontano."

Like a lot of compressed aphorisms it doesn't translate into tidy English: very roughly "he who goes slowly goes comfortably; he who goes comfortably goes far".

In reply to drolex:


There was a bloke I met on Ben Lomond who out of the blue offered me a Chinese proverb .

With nothing to lose I said yes, and he whipped out his Chinese Proverb book , and selected one appropriate to mountains and read it to me and then wished me a good day, and walked on
( can't recall it) but I will always remember the encounter.

In reply to Bob Aitken:

A little in tune with, "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" I think. A popular one with the American military.

Yours is much smoother off the tongue however

In reply to GarethSL:

All mushrooms are edible; but some only once - Croatian proverb

In reply to coinneach:
TC actually was prepared to get bitten in place of her companion (due to their phobia of dogs).

I think it needs turning into a proverb. 'A true friend gets bitten by the dog'.

In reply to Bob Aitken:


I guess it could seem like something to be cynical about - or like something to make one think about how enigmatic life can be?

In reply to Thread:

A few Spanish ones:
- El hombre Es como el Oso - lo más peludo lo más hermoso. Man is like the Bear - the hairier, the more beautiful.
- Más perdemos en Cuba - we Lost moré in Cuba, the Spanish version of worse things happen at sea and a reference to losing Cuba ( to the US? I can't remember)
- me cago en la leche / tu madre / tus muertos - i sh*t in the milk / your mother / your dead family. The first is an expresión of shock, the other two are insults

In reply to Bob Aitken:




Look after your feet and your walk will take you far

In reply to Timmd:

True enough. You're more philosophical and more benevolent than me. Being mentally idle, I retain a naïve hope that I'll discover one or two durable wise aphorisms to help me through life and save me having to think too much, without promptly coming across countervailing ones. No solid ground.
"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late." - Benjamin Franklin.

In reply to GarethSL:
From Red Dwarf, so sort of foreign: -

Cat says: There's an old cat saying "It's better to live one hour as a tiger than a whole lifetime as a worm."
To which, Rimmer replies with: There's an old human saying, "Who's ever heard of a worm skin rug?"

In reply to GarethSL:

I love the image of the Slovakian proverb - "a cooked pigeon doesn't fall from the sky"

Roughly translates as "if its too good to be true, it probably is"

In reply to Kemics:


I love that!

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Another way to translate this:

don't let the best be the enemy of the good,

i.e. just because you can't manage the optimal solution to a problem (global warming, say) doesn't mean you should do nothing.

In reply to GarethSL:

An African one: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

In reply to Rigid Raider:

My translation of inshallah as I have heard it used, (not a literal translation) is of polite agreement to something that is never going to happen.

For example, "wouldn't it be lovely to all get together for dinner next week?"
"Oh yes, I will call you, that would be great inshallah."

In reply to Dom Connaway:

I hadn't thought of that, thanks! What a good saying.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


I always thought that it's using that proverb is the mark of a fool.

There's another Russian one that used to go "A man's strength is in his intelligence", which is often changed to "A man is STRONGER THAN his intelligence"

In reply to GarethSL:

A superlative thread from UKCers, reminiscent of the best of the old days.

In reply to GarethSL:
If you want the dog accept the fleas.

Whines more than a truck full of pigs.

In reply to GarethSL:
Was talking to an Indian girl about this, while confusing a Chinese one by referring to flying pigs.

She was puzzled at first, but then contributed the Indian proverb about "an upside-down crow", having the same implication.

It seems a great many languages/cultures have the idea of "don't be so daft, that can't happen" is defined by animals doing impossible things for them or having impossible characteristics. In French, I believe it is a reference to "when chickens grow teeth".

In reply to Kirill:

When Kruschev was leader of the Soviet Union (clearly quite a while ago), he used to go to the UN headquarters and regale assembled delegates with a long stream of homely Russian proverbs. So much so that a paper held a competition to see who could create the best fake Russian saying. The winner :

"Trees grow tall, but they do not reach the sky".

Sounds very impressive and profound, but, as intended, completely meaningless.

In reply to Kirill:



Well it sticks in my mind because a) it rhymes and b) I work with a laughing fool.

In reply to GarethSL:

The Arabic equivalent of "like father like son" translates rather nicely into English as "the son of a duck is a floater"...

In reply to simonsnorkel:

"Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm." is the German equivalent: the apple does not fall far from the trunk. (This seems to match the English version rather literally. I wonder who borrowed it from whom?)

In reply to GarethSL:

Not a proverb as such but The Romanian version of 'apples and oranges' is 'grandmas and machine guns'.