As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal
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they’re hatched ENGLAND
11 A skunk smells its own hole first USA
12 You have to learn to crawl before you can walk ENGLAND
13 Fingers were made before forks ENGLAND
14 Even the moon does not shine before it rises FINLAND
15 Those who have free seats at a play hiss first CHINA
16 The darkest hour is just before the dawn ENGLAND
17 The one who strikes first, strikes twice BELGIUM
18 Don’t take the antidote before the poison LATIN
19 Don’t shout before the birch-rod falls LATVIA
20 Look before you leap ENGLAND
21 Before marrying live wildly for three years POLAND
22 Before going to war say one prayer; before going to sea, two; before getting married, three POLAND
23 All things are difficult before they are easy SPAIN
24 Pride goes before a fall ENGLAND
25 You have no wisdom if you go to sleep before you make your bed UGANDA
26 First lay the egg, then cackle ESTONIA
27 That which you would say to another, say to yourself first ESTONIA
28 People are not trodden on unless they lie down first GERMANY
29 The first in the boat has the choice of oars ENGLAND
30 Warm a frozen serpent, and it will sting you first ARMENIA
31 Sweep off your own back porch first USA
32 Those who sing worst, let them begin first ENGLAND
41 AFTERWARDS
1 What’s the good of a spoon after the meal is over? LATVIA
2 It ain’t over till the fat lady sings USA
3 The game’s not over until the last man strikes out USA
4 If they do not open after three knocks, do not wait POLAND
5 The greatest love is mother-love; after that comes a dog’s love; and after that the love of a sweetheart POLAND
6 Why feed a bullock after it is sold? INDIA
7 It’s no good locking the stable door after the horse is stolen ENGLAND
8 If power can be bought, then sell your mother to get it; you can always buy her back later GHANA
9 Don’t quote your proverb until you bring your ship to port SCOTLAND
10 Sell not your bearskin until you have the bear USA
11 Don’t cross a bridge until you come to it ENGLAND5 PRESENT TENSEProverbs, being the expression of general truths, are usually in the present tense. But occasionally we find them looking backwards and forwards in time.Past timeA barren sow was never good to pigs.Because we concentrated on the snake, we missed the scorpion.A big nose never spoiled a handsome face.Bacchus has drowned more people than Neptune.Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away.I gave an order to a cat, and the cat gave it to its tail.Future timeGo abroad and you’ll hear news of home.An old cat will not learn how to dance.A dog in desperation will leap over a wall.A red-nosed man may not be a drinker, but he will find nobody to believe it.Two barrels of tears will not heal a bruise.If we knew where we would fall, we would spread straw there first.
12 Don’t quit until the hearse comes round USA
13 When the face is washed, you finish at the chin NIGERIA
42 PAST – PRESENT – FUTURE
1 No one can call again yesterday ENGLAND
2 No one thinks of the snow that fell last year SWEDEN
3 It is in vain to look for yesterday’s fish in the house of the otter INDIA
4 The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is now CHINA
5 A dog last year is a dog this year SERBIA
6 There’s no time like the present ENGLAND
7 Water will run where it ran before BULGARIA
8 Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow USA
9 For the diligent, a week has seven days; for the slothful, seven tomorrows GERMANY
10 If you want to be acquainted with the past and the present, you must read five cartloads of books CHINA
11 Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today ENGLAND
12 Here today and gone tomorrow ENGLAND
13 Speak, lest tomorrow you be prevented KENYA
14 Tomorrow blows the wind of tomorrow JAPAN
15 Tomorrow never comes ENGLAND
16 Today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday USA
43 SOONER OR LATER
1 A whitewashed crow soon shows black again CHINA
2 Short hair is soon brushed GERMANY
3 Longest at the fire soonest finds cold SCOTLAND
4 They that think no ill are soonest beguiled ENGLAND
5 The tighter the string, the sooner it will break WALES
6 Nothing dries sooner than a tear LATIN
7 Little kettles soon boil over ESTONIA
8 Honest men marry soon; wise men never ENGLAND
9 Luck and glass soon break GERMANY
10 The fuller the cup, the sooner the spill CHINA
11 A gummed thing soon ungums JAPAN
12 A fool and his money are soon parted ENGLAND
13 Punctuality is the politeness of princes FRANCE
14 If you wish to be angry, pay for something in advance MONTENEGRO
15 That which is to become a good nettle must sting early SWEDEN
16 Least said, soonest mended ENGLAND
17 Clumsy birds need early flight CHINA
18 If your neighbour is an early riser, you will become one ALBANIA
19 It is not economical to go to bed early to save the candles if the result is twins CHINA
20 The early bird catches the worm ENGLAND
21 Strawberries ripen sooner in a low wood than in a high one ESTONIA
22 Sooner begun, sooner done ENGLAND
23 It cannot be later than midnight MYANMAR
24 The later in the evening, the nicer the people NETHERLANDS
25 Those who are in a hurry are always late GEORGIA
26 Those who come too late find the platter turned over NETHERLANDS
27 Better late than never ENGLAND
44 NEWNESS
1 New brooms sweep clean ENGLAND
2 A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows the corners IRELAND
3 Even in the freshest of milk you will still find hairs MALI
4 Necessity teaches new arts NORWAY
5 A debt is always new ESTONIA
6 Beware of old streets and new inns GERMANY
7 To read a book for the first time is to make the acquaintance of a new friend; to read it a second time is to meet an old one CHINA
8 An old story does not open the ear as a new one does NIGERIA
9 New