- English translation
Money is like sparrows, always flying off and flying back again.
- Literal wording
Money is like sparrows: it goes and it comes.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying treats money as something that never stays put. Like sparrows or other small, quick birds that land briefly and then dart off, cash slips out of a person's hands, and in time fresh sums arrive to replace what has left. Wealth is pictured as a constant coming and going, not a fixed possession.
In practice this can comfort someone who has spent or lost money, suggesting that more will come and that the loss is not worth fretting over. It can equally remind a person that present riches are fleeting and should not be counted on to remain.
- When it is used
Suitable for remarks on spending, loss, or a sudden windfall, especially to downplay worry about money already gone or to caution against clinging to what is in hand. Being colloquial, it fits casual conversation better than formal writing.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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