As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal
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less by being known too little than by being known too much LATIN
20 If you haven’t much to do, start cleaning your own backyard USA
21 It takes little effort to watch someone carry a load CHINA
22 To part is to die a little FRANCE
23 It’s a small world ENGLAND
24 A little drop of water silences a boiling pot GERMANY
25 Small cares make many words, great ones are mute GERMANY
26 When the bed is small lie in the centre SPAIN
27 A small bed will not hold two persons NIGERIA
28 A tree with ripe fruit needs little shaking SWITZERLAND
29 Least said, soonest mended ENGLAND
30 Little said is easy mended; nothing said needs no mending IRELAND
31 Great consolation may grow out of the smallest saying SWITZERLAND
6 LARGE AMOUNT
1 Much treasure, many moths ESTONIA
2 A big crop is best, but a little crop will do SCOTLAND
3 The bird can drink much, but the elephant drinks more SENEGAL
4 The peace-maker gets two-thirds of the blows MONTENEGRO
5 They that love most speak least SCOTLAND
6 Discretion is the better part of valour ENGLAND
7 A fox knows much; a hedgehog one great thing GREECE
8 Lovers have much to relate – but it is always the same thing GERMANY
9 Many donkeys need much straw SPAIN: BASQUE
10 Many drops make a puddle NETHERLANDS
11 Too much courtesy is discourtesy JAPAN
12 Too much discussion will lead to a row CÔTE D’IVOIRE
13 What is inflated too much will burst into fragments ETHIOPIA
14 Where there is most mind there is least money LATIN
15 Who sieves too much, keeps the rubbish BELGIUM
16 Think much, say little, write less FRANCE
17 The fish said, ‘I have much to say, but my mouth is full of water.’ GEORGIA
18 Those who speak much must either know a lot or lie a lot GERMANY
19 Drinking a little too much is drinking a great deal too much GERMANY
20 Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration USA
21 The roughest stone becomes smooth when it is much rolled SWITZERLAND
22 Too much tying loosens SYRIA
23 Who knows much, mistakes much ARMENIA
24 If you engrave it too much it will become a hole INDIA
25 A reasonable amount of fleas is good for a dog; they keep him from broodin’ on being a dog USA
7 INCREASE – DECREASE
1 Little by little grow the bananas REPUBLIC OF CONGO
2 The first stage of folly is to consider oneself wise BELGIUM
3 Friendship is steps KENYA
4 Add caution to caution JAPAN
5 Is it necessary to add acid to the lemon? INDIA
6 Quick work – double work MONTENEGRO
7 Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still CHINA
8 No matter how full the river, it still wants to grow REPUBLIC OF CONGO
9 One good turn deserves another ENGLAND
10 The sea is made bigger even by one drop RUSSIA
11 Two things make one either greater or smaller, praise and shadows GERMANY
12 The more one sleeps the less one lives PORTUGAL
13 More haste, less speed ENGLAND
14 Another day, another dollar USA
15 A bald-headed man cannot grow hair by getting excited about it REPUBLIC OF CONGO
16 The more you stroke a cat, the more it lifts its tail ESTONIA
17 A rolling stone gathers no moss ENGLAND
18 A stationary stone gathers moss RUSSIA
8 ONE ALONE
1 One dog can’t fight IRELAND
2 Once is no custom NETHERLANDS
3 The wise person is cheated only once FINLAND
4 No stone ever falls alone BELGIUM
5 In every family’s cooking-pot is one black spot CHINA
6 We boil our rice only once INDIA
7 Who hears but one bell hears but one sound FRANCE
8 Who hears music feels his solitude FRANCE
9 Solitude is full of God SERBIA
10 Hit one ring and the whole chain will resound SOUTH AFRICA
11 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY
12 One spot spots the whole dress BELGIUM
13 One bad pipe ruins the entire organ NETHERLANDS
14 One rotten egg spoils the whole pudding GERMANY
15 One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel ENGLAND
16 The eyes have one language everywhere ENGLAND
17 Heroism consists in hanging on one minute longer NORWAY
18 Rather once cry your heart out than always sigh CHINA
19 The person who steals once is always a thief SPAIN
20 Between two points one cannot draw more than one straight line DENMARK
21 Empty gossip jumps with one leg ESTONIA
22 It is better to be once in the church sleigh than always in the back runners FINLAND
23 Those who have only one bow should be content with one fiddle GERMANY
24 One bell serves a parish ITALY
25 A single bracelet doesn’t jingle GUINEA
26 Those who have once had luck cannot always call themselves unlucky BELGIUM
27 A hundred aunts is not the same as one mother SIERRA LEONE
28 One thread for the needle, one love for the heart SUDAN
29 Once a crook, always a crook USA
30 Beware the man with only one gun USA
31 When a single hair has fallen from your head, you are not yet bald SIERRA LEONE
32 A fox knows much; a hedgehog one great thing GREECE
33 Never less alone than when alone LATIN
34 If you play alone, you will win SYRIA
9 ONE OF TWO
1 One hand washes the other; both hands wash the face ALBANIA
2 If a string has one end, then it has another end CHINA
3 If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily CHINA
4 Never try to catch two frogs with one hand CHINA
5 You cannot hold two water melons in one hand IRAN
6 The story is only half told when one side tells it ICELAND
7 When two ride on one horse, one must sit behind ENGLAND
8 Too many affairs are like pumpkins in water; one