As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal
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thinnest bread finds itself married to bread ALGERIA
10 Straps come from the same leather ARGENTINA
11 A gummed thing soon ungums JAPAN
12 When walking through your neighbour’s melon-patch, don’t tie your shoe CHINA
13 Too much tying loosens SYRIA
14 The string of our sack of patience is generally tied with a slip knot JAPAN
15 One hand can’t tie a bundle LIBERIA
16 You cannot tie up another’s wound while your own is still bleeding ESTONIA
17 Everyone buckles their belt their own way SCOTLAND
18 One missing button strikes the eye more than one missing day ESTONIA
19 Coupled sheep drown each other NETHERLANDS
20 A feather does not stick without gum AFGHANISTAN
21 Sweat makes good mortar GERMANY
22 A stitch in time saves nine ENGLAND
23 Kick an attorney downstairs and he’ll stick to you for life SCOTLAND
24 There is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers ENGLAND
25 The postage stamp’s usefulness lies in the ability to stick USA
26 Let the cobbler stick to his last ENGLAND
19 SEPARATING
1 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY
2 United we stand; divided we fall USA
3 The tighter the string, the sooner it will break WALES
4 The one on whose head we would break a coconut never stands still NIGERIA
5 Courteous asking breaks even city walls UKRAINE
6 Luck and glass soon break GERMANY
7 When you give a child a nut, give it also something to break it with GEORGIA
8 You do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the ice breaks ICELAND
9 Fortune is glass; just when it is bright it is broken LATIN
10 Carrying-poles which bend easily do not break CHINA
11 Every plate that is made breaks AFGHANISTAN
12 If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? RWANDA AND BURUNDI
13 A broken glass can’t be hurt ENGLAND
14 All’s lost that’s put in a broken dish SCOTLAND
15 One broken rail will wreck a train USA
16 Where the drum is burst is the place to mend it REPUBLIC OF CONGO
17 A basket with its bottom burst is useless NIGERIA
18 What is inflated too much will burst into fragments ETHIOPIA
19 In the choicest vase are found the ugliest cracks CHINA
20 If you pick the fluff from a blanket it comes to pieces INDIA
21 Flies never visit an egg that has no crack CHINA
22 Cut bread cannot be put together again LATVIA
23 It is easy to steal from a cut loaf ENGLAND
24 Those who cannot cut the bread evenly cannot get on well with people CZECH REPUBLIC
25 Dull scissors can’t cut straight USA
26 Measure twice, cut once SLOVAKIA
27 The axe forgets, but the cut log does not ZIMBABWE
28 Those who cut their own firewood have it warm them twice USA
29 There is always something to be cut off young trees if they are to grow well GERMANY
30 Everyone must skin their own skunk USA
31 You cannot take one part of a fowl for cooking and leave the other part to lay eggs INDIA
32 A fool and his money are soon parted ENGLAND
33 The end of separation is meeting again TURKEY
34 One loose pebble can start a landslide USA
35 A smooth way makes the foot slip ESTONIA
36 Don’t look where you fell, but where you slipped LIBERIA
37 When a single hair has fallen from your head, you are not yet bald SIERRA LEONE
38 An egg on bread is slippery SCOTLAND
39 No matter how you slice it, it’s still baloney USA
20 CHAIN – ROPE – STRING
1 Hit one ring and the whole chain will resound SOUTH AFRICA
2 A chain is as strong as its weakest link ENGLAND
3 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY
4 Pull gently at a weak rope NETHERLANDS
5 An ox is bound with ropes and a person with words ITALY
6 Men hold the buffalo by its rope, a ruler by his word INDONESIA
7 If a string has one end, then it has another end CHINA
8 The string of our sack of patience is generally tied with a slip knot JAPAN
9 If the string is long the kite will fly high CHINA
10 The tighter the string, the sooner it will break WALES
11 There is bound to be a knot in a very long string KENYA
21 WHOLE – PART
1 One rotten egg spoils the whole pudding GERMANY
2 One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel ENGLAND
3 One spot spots the whole dress BELGIUM
4 Those who seek the entrance should also think of the exit GERMANY
5 When luck offers a finger one must take the whole hand SWEDEN
6 Who does not understand half a word will not be wiser for a whole word FINLAND
7 Every art requires the whole person FRANCE
8 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY
9 One needn’t devour the whole chicken to know the flavour of the bird CHINA
10 Hit one ring and the whole chain will resound SOUTH AFRICA
11 Better lose the anchor than the whole ship NETHERLANDS
12 It is better to be entirely without a book than to believe it entirely CHINA
13 One bad pipe ruins the entire organ NETHERLANDS
14 You cannot take one part of a fowl for cooking and leave the other part to lay eggs INDIA
15 The first thread is not part of the yarn IRELAND
16 Discretion is the better part of valour ENGLAND
17 To get out a rusty nail you must take away a piece of the wall MALTA
18 What is inflated too much will burst into fragments ETHIOPIA
19 The town that parleys is half surrendered FRANCE
20 The story is only half told when one side tells it ICELAND
21 Chop, and you will have splinters DENMARK
22 For the diligent, a week has seven days; for the slothful, seven tomorrows GERMANY
23 If a string has one end, then it has another end CHINA
22 FULL – ENTIRE
1 A coconut shell full of water is a sea to an ant ZANZIBAR
2 The hollow of the ear is never full SENEGAL
3 Full