Cliches from a Variety of Countries

Meetings a variety of people from various countries and of different ethnic origins reminded me how culturally diverse this we really are. Many of our well-known sayings and clichés have come from other countries.

For example, from Denmark we get, “The road to a friend’s house is never long”. From Italy comes, “If a man deceives me once, shame on him. If he deceives me twice, shame on me”. Out of France we get, “Rats desert a sinking ship” along with, “Nothing is as burdensome as a secret”.

From Spain we have, “It is better to conceal one’s knowledge than to reveal one’s ignorance”. From Germany we get, “Who begins too much accomplishes little”.

The Dutch have some interesting ones, such as, “You can’t hatch chickens from fried eggs”. The Irish hatched a few classics as in, “ Necessity is the mother of invention”, along with, “ You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”. And our English friends have given us many sage sayings such as, “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know”. “A bird in the hand is worth tow in the bush”. And, a couple about man’s best friend, “Let sleeping dogs lie”, and, “Every dog hath its day”.

The Brits also say that “Honesty is the best policy” so I’m off to “Make hay while the sun shines”, because “There’s no time like the present”.