«اِلْخَرْسَهْ تِعْرَفْ بِلُغَى ابْنَهَا»

Close, lasting familiarity teaches a person to grasp what others cannot. The image, built on muteness and deafness, may picture a mother reading her hearing son's halting speech or signs through habit, or understanding a son mute like her. Both readings point to the same lesson: intimate understanding outsiders lack.

In use, the saying explains why one particular person can interpret someone who is inarticulate, very young, or poor at expressing himself. It credits long habit and closeness, rather than special cleverness, for the fact that this listener follows what everyone else misses.

Say it when someone readily understands a person whose words or signs puzzle everyone else, such as a parent decoding a toddler's half-words. The tone can be affectionate; take care it never reads as mockery of disability or of someone's way of speaking.