We are opening another post so that you can add more sayings here.
Michael Rosen’s Word of Mouth (Radio 4, BBC) features an episode on Family Sayings (13 February 2024): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w73h
In Leicester, the diverse languages will render us sayings with wisdom and humour from many different cultures.
Please share sayings or expressions of your family other than English here by adding a comment.
1.) Write the saying in the original language (if you can);
2.) Translate it in a literal way;
3.) Provide some background or explanation.
Or you could send it to dlit@leicester.ac.uk, let us know if you would like to have a separate post to feature your contribution.
Comments
2 responses to “Sayings Collection 2”
厨顿要把牢。Manage your three meals well. This is a written rendition of the Ningbo dialect.
I eventually put aside what I was doing, and started to prepare lunch. My daughter opened the biscuit tin and claimed she was very hungry. So she should be — it was already 1.30 pm!
I recalled what my granny used to say, “厨顿要把牢”, for those who do the cooking, and for everyone. If you have meals at regular times, it is better for you to manage your appetite, health and time! When I was living with my granny before the age of 15, she gave me breakfast at 6.30 am, lunch, 11.30 am, and dinner 5 pm, all warm and cooked. And I went to bed at 8 pm.
أسأل مجرب ولا تسأل طبيب
The above is Arabic saying. Its literal translation is ‘ask a person with experience but do not ask a medical doctor’.
This saying highlights the importance of experience and says that knowing is not enough.
The following could be an equivalent English proverb:
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.