English Probverbs

ضرب‌المثل‌های انگلیسی

A
• "A poor workman blames his tools."
• Possible Interpretation: Good workmanship depends no more on the quality of the tools than it does on the way in which they are used, so to blame the tools for bad workmanship is to attempt to excuse one's own lack of skill.
• Also, in former times, a blacksmith would have made his own tools, so the act of blaming ones tools would rebound on oneself.
• This wording of this proverb also has the double meaning : " A workman without much money blames the quality of his tools".
• "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
• Possible Interpretation: A small amount that you have is worth more than a large amount that is uncertain.
• "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
o Possible Interpretation: We feel more affection for relatives and friends when we are parted from them.
• "A cat may look at a king."
o Possible Interpretation: This is one of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes. It means: "If a cat may look at a king, I have as much right to take an interest in what you are doing. Are you so important that I can't even look at you?"
• "A chain is no stronger than its weakest link."
o Possible Interpretation: The strength (usually metaphorical) of a group depends on the individual strength of each of its members.
• "A coward dies a thousand times before his death. The valiant never taste of death but once."
o From William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
• "A creaking door hangs longest." and "A creaking gate hangs long."
o Possible Interpretation: Despite its defects, the quality and/or performance of a tested article is more dependable.
• "Actions speak louder than words."
• "Advice when most needed is least heeded."
• "A fool and his money are easily parted."
• "A fox smells its own lair first." and " A fox smells its own stink first."
o Possible Interpretation: If you are the first person to notice a fault in someone else, might that be because you have the same fault? This proverb is sometimes also used against someone who is claiming that someone else has passed wind, meaning that if you acknowledge a smell, perhaps you are the person who created the smell and are just trying to take the suspicion off yourself.
• "A friend in need is a friend indeed."
• "After a storm comes a calm."
• "After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile."
• "A good beginning makes a good ending."
• "A good man in an evil society seems the greatest villain of all."
• "A good surgeon has an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's hand."
• "A guilty conscience needs no accuser."
• "A jack of all trades is master of none."
o Possible Interpretation: Someone who is good at everything has no mastery over any one particular thing.
• "A lie has no legs."
o Possible Interpretation: You can't get away with a lie, it will always reveal the truth someday
• "A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on."
o Attributed to Winston Churchill. It's easier to turn falsehood loose than correct it everywhere it runs to.
• "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
• "A merry heart makes a long life."
• "A miss is as good as a mile."
• "A penny saved is a penny earned."
o Attributed to Benjamin Franklin; Poor Richard's Almanac.
• "A person is known by the company he keeps."
• "A picture is worth a thousand words."
• "A pot of milk is ruined by a drop of poison."
• "A rolling stone gathers no moss."
o Possible Interpretation: A person who does not stay in any one place for very long will not develop roots or meaningful connections with others.
• "A sound mind in a sound body."
o From the Latin, mens sana in corpore sano.
• "A stitch in time saves nine." This is attributed to Benjamin Franklin under american proverbs.
o Possible Interpretation: A small problem adressed in time prevents the development of a larger problem.
• "All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet."
• "All flowers are not in one garland."
• "All frills and no knickers."
• "All good things come to an end."
• "All hat and no cattle"
• "All roads lead to Rome."
• "All's fair in love and war."
• "All's well that ends well."
• "All that glisters is not gold."
o From William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, act II, scene 7, by William Shakespeare
o Possible Interpretation: Not everything is what it appears to be.
o Alternative: "All that glitters is not gold."
• "All things come to he who waits."
o Alternative version: "Good things come to those who wait."
• "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
• "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
• "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
o From the Code of Hammurabi and the Bible. Originally meant that punishment could be no more than an eye for an eye.
• "Another man's poison is not necessarily yours."
o From the Latin proverb: "One man's medicine is another man's poison."
o Alternative: "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
• "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
• "April showers bring May flowers."
• "Ask and you shall receive."
o From the Gospel of Matthew
• "Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."
• "Ask no questions and hear no lies."
• "As you make your bed, so you must lie in it."
• "As you sow, so shall you reap."
o Possible Interpretation: What you do now reflects upon what will happen later.
• "A watched kettle never boils."
o Alternative: "A watched pot never boils."
• "A woman's work is never done."
o From a folk rhyme - "A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done", meaning that a man's traditional role as breadwinner may keep him occupied from sunup to sundown, but the traditional roles of a woman demand even longer hours of work.
• "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle."
• "A word to the wise is enough" (or "sufficient.")
o Latin: Verbum sapienti saepet.
• "A word spoken is past recalling."
o Alternative: "What's done is done."
B
• "Barking dogs seldom bite."
• "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it."
• "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
• "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes straight to the bone."
• "Beauty may open doors but only virtue enters."
• "Beer before liquor, you'll never be sicker, but liquor before beer and you're in the clear."
• "Beggars can't be choosers."
• "Better be alone than in bad company."
• "Better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
• "Better late than never."
• "Better safe than sorry."
• "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."
• "Birds of a feather flock together."
• "Bitter pills may have blessed effects."
• "Blood is thicker than water."
• "Blood will out."
o This has a parallel in Chaucer, Murder will out.
• "Boys will be boys."
o Already a Latin proverb: Sunt pueri pueri, pueri puerilia tractant. "Boys will be boys and play boyish games."
• "Brain is better than brawn."
• "Bread is the staff of life."
• "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper."
• "Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, lead at night."

C
• "Chance favors the prepared mind."
• "Cider on beer, never fear; beer upon cider, makes a bad rider."
• "Close but no cigar."
• "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades."
• "Clothes make(th) the man."
o The opposite form also exists, "Clothes don't make the man."
• "Common sense ain't common."
• "Cowards die many times, but a brave man only dies once."
• "Cross the stream where it is the shallowest."
• "Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought it back"
• "Cut your coat according to your cloth."

D
• "Delays are dangerous."
• "Desperate diseases must have desperate cures."
o Similar to "Desperate times call for desparate measures."
• "Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies."
• "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
• "Different sores must have different salves."
• "Different strokes for different folks."
• "Diseases come on horseback, but steal away on foot."
• "Do as you would be done by."
• "Do unto others as you would have done to you."
• "Doctors make the worst patients."
• "Don't burn your bridges before they're crossed."
• "Don't burn your bridges behind you."
• "Don't change horses in midstream."
• "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."
• "Don't cross a bridge until you come to it."
• "Don't cry over spilt milk."
• "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face."
• "Don't have too many irons in the fire."
• "Don't make a mountain out of a molehill."
• "Don't mend what ain't broken."
• "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
• "Don't put the cart before the horse."
• "Don't shut the barn door after the horse is gone."
• "Don't shut the gate after the horse has bolted."
• "Don't spit into the wind."
• "Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater."
• "Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom."
• "Do or die