- English translation
Stay too close and you turn into onions; keep your distance and you turn into honey.
- Literal wording
Come near, you become onions; go far, you become honey.
- Meaning and lesson
Addressed to a group in the plural, the saying warns that constant closeness wears thin. People who are always around, always visiting, or always underfoot gradually become tiresome to others, as unwelcome as the lingering smell of onions, however good their intentions may be.
It also suggests the remedy: measured distance keeps affection fresh. Those who appear only now and then are missed and greeted warmly, treated like honey, sweet and longed for. The onion and honey describe how one is received, not one's actual qualities.
- When it is used
Suited to friendly advice about pacing visits or contact, for example warning someone who drops in constantly that frequent presence may wear out their welcome. Delivered lightly, it can tease; aimed pointedly at a guest, it may come across as rude.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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