Read by the tongue
8 English proverbs read closely — filed under Humility, Effort, Justice and 6 others; set beside cousins in Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Mandarin, Latin and 11 others.
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
Why English tells the advice-giver to stop, not the grandmother — and how a Chinese carpenter's gate, a Latin pig, and a Swahili elder make the same argument in three different registers.
A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
a rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
A 'Navajo proverb' about stony ground and a pick ax that almost certainly isn't Navajo — and the genuinely old Spanish, Arabic, and Greek sayings that make the same demand: pray if you like, but pick up the tool.
Strike while the iron is hot
strike while the iron is hot
English keeps 'strike while the iron is hot' in the drawer by the front door. The first time anyone wrote it down in English, though, it was the wrong people saying it — and a wiser voice in the same tale had to talk them down.
What goes around comes around
what goes around comes around
Why Americans say what goes around comes around — and how the AAVE-rooted karma-cycle figure carries the same inevitability claim as the Russian geography, the Pauline harvest, and the Mandarin moral arithmetic, but routes the claim through a wheel instead of a road.
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
he who pays the piper calls the tune
Why an English proverb makes payment the source of authority — and how Russian carries the image to the symphony stand, German strips it to labor-economic bone, and Mandarin flips the camera onto the receiver's hand.
Many hands make light work.
many hands make light work
Why English wisdom says many hands make light work — and how Korean, Swahili, and Mandarin make the same observation by trading lightness for strength.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
empty vessels make the most noise
Why English wisdom warns that empty vessels make the most noise — and how Mandarin, Korean, and Russian arrange the same observation around very different objects.
The pot calls the kettle black.
the pot calls the kettle black
Why English wisdom catches the pot calling the kettle black — and how Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin name the same hypocrisy with very different teeth.
The accuser shares the very fault he is accusing.
The pot calls the kettle black.
Literally: The pot calls the kettle black.
English · England
Set beside
Act while the moment is right; opportunity will not keep.
Strike while the iron is hot
Literally: Strike the iron while it is still hot
English · England
Set beside
Don't presume to instruct someone who already knows the task better than you do.
Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
Literally: Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
English · England
Set beside
He who pays the piper calls the tune
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
English · United Kingdom
Set beside
Stony ground answers to labor, not to supplication.
A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
Literally: A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
English · United States
Set beside
Those with the least inside speak the loudest.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
Literally: Empty vessels make the most noise.
English · England
Set beside
What goes around comes around.
What goes around comes around
Literally: Whatever circulates outward eventually returns
English · United States (African American Vernacular English origin)
Set beside
When many people share a task, the task becomes light.
Many hands make light work.
Literally: Many hands make light work.
English · England
Set beside
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