English proverbs

A night of heavy drinking can leave a person feeling unwell and mentally foggy the following morning.

The proverb suggests that intoxication can loosen a person's restraint, leading them to voice thoughts they might otherwise keep private.

The proverb contrasts the self-restraint a person exercises when sober with the reduced restraint that can accompany drinking. Someone who has been guarded may speak more openly after becoming intoxicated.

The proverb values the comfort and familiarity of home above material pleasures found elsewhere. Its contrast between plain bread and a rich meal makes belonging more important than luxury.

The proverb portrays a dry cough as an ominous announcement, as though the sound of coughing were a trumpet heralding death.

The proverb presents a dry May followed by a wet June as a favorable sequence of weather. It predicts that this pattern will help things develop well.

The proverb presents an early bedtime and an early start as habits that support physical well-being, material success, and good judgment.

Work begun early may reach its productive stage earlier. The proverb links a timely first step with the possibility of enjoying its results sooner.

Acting before others can give a person first access to an opportunity or reward. The bird finds food because it arrives ahead of its competitors.

Children can overhear more than adults realize, even when they appear occupied with something else.

A conversation may not be as private as the speakers think. The image of listening walls warns that someone nearby could hear what is said.

The proverb urges a person to listen more attentively and speak less. Understanding others should take priority over adding one's own words.

Even a small amount of comfort has real value. The proverb suggests that avoiding a modest expense is not always worthwhile if doing so means enduring unnecessary difficulty.

It is natural to look forward to comfort or rest, but the wish for it should not interrupt the work still to be done.

An account of an action can seem credible simply because the action would have been easy to carry out. Its feasibility makes the report quick to accept.

Food should sustain a person’s life rather than become the central purpose of it. The proverb urges moderation and a sense of proportion in one’s appetite.

The saying advises having a small amount of food before drinking. Its point is the order of the two actions: eat something first, then drink.

The proverb allows pleasure in eating while urging restraint in drinking. It sets an open attitude toward food against a definite limit on drink.

Hunger fades as a person consumes food and drink. The proverb treats a loss of appetite as the expected result of satisfying it.

The proverb warns that sharp implements can cause injury when someone handles them without due care. Its literal image makes the danger of careless interference easy to grasp.

The image suggests that an eel’s movement would betray its presence even when the animal is covered. Putting it in a sack would not make it truly hidden.

Depending on a single plan, investment, or opportunity leaves you vulnerable: if it fails, you may lose everything you committed to it.

A vast or demanding undertaking becomes perilous when the means available are too frail for the task. The egg-shell suggests a vessel that cannot reliably protect its traveler.

The instruction is deliberately impractical: an elbow cannot rub its owner's eye as a hand can. By proposing an impossible way to touch the sore spot, the proverb makes restraint the point of the joke.

Put substantial physical effort into the task rather than expecting it to be done easily. “Elbow grease” pictures the hard work of using one’s arms and hands.

A vacant house can be less costly or troublesome than one occupied by a tenant who causes damage or other problems. The proverb treats an empty property as the safer of two imperfect choices.

The proverb connects having no money with worry and strain, pictured as wrinkles appearing on a person's face.

Money in your possession is not necessarily yours to spend. If it belongs to others, it adds nothing to your own resources, however full your purse appears.

The proverb suggests that people with little knowledge or substance may make the most noise, speaking with a confidence their ideas do not justify.

All things eventually come to a close. The first half offers a broad reminder that even a long or difficult experience will not last forever.

The proverb treats endurance as a form of resistance: hardship may continue, but it has not defeated someone who is still bearing it.

The proverb portrays England as an exceptionally favorable place for women. Calling it a paradise makes the praise deliberately extravagant.

The proverb says that once a need has been met, a larger amount may offer no greater satisfaction. Sufficiency can have its own sense of fullness.

Having enough meets the need; adding more may turn a comfortable margin into unnecessary excess.

The proverb points out that sufficiency depends on having something available. Once a supply is gone, no amount of wishing can make it adequate.

The proverb treats an enviable position as preferable to a pitiable one. Envy may be unpleasant to receive, but pity implies a hardship the speaker would rather avoid.

Resenting another person's advantages does nothing to increase one's own wealth or prospects. Their good fortune cannot be turned into personal gain merely by begrudging it.

The saying accuses someone of dishonesty by comparing his words to an epitaph that praises the dead more generously than the facts warrant.

The proverb presents error as an ordinary part of human life and forgiveness as a morally elevated response to it.

A capable person can grasp what an errand requires without being given detailed instructions. The proverb praises sound judgment and initiative.

A battle is particularly severe when no one manages to escape its effects. The proverb measures the struggle by how widely its toll is felt.

A person can dispose of property or wealth with little effort, yet face a long, difficult struggle to regain what was lost.

The proverb links self-knowledge with humility. Someone who sees their own shortcomings clearly is less inclined to feel superior to others.