- English translation
'Morning, Juha!' 'Hang on, I've only just set out with the flock!'
- Literal wording
They said: 'Good morning, O Juha.' He said: 'Here I am, only now going out to graze.'
- Meaning and lesson
A comic exchange in which Juha, the well-known comic folk figure, answers an ordinary morning greeting as though he were being asked for results, protesting that he has only now set out to take his animals to pasture. The joke turns on his overreaction: he hears pressure where there is only courtesy.
The saying is aimed at situations where one person hurries another about something that is not yet ready. Its message is roughly 'hold on, I have only just started,' pushing back against impatience while keeping the tone playful instead of confrontational.
- When it is used
Say it lightly when someone presses you for a result, progress report, or finished task before you have properly begun. It works as a good-humored request for patience rather than a rebuke, and can also describe a third person being rushed prematurely.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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