Z is for.................

Guess what?! I couldn't find a "Z" proverb. And so, this final A to Z Challenge post will be about something else that starts with Z. Mainly..."Z" words that I like to say because they are a little obscure.^^

Zenzizenzizenzic = the 8th power of a number.

Zoanthropy = delusion that one is an animal

Zodiographer = a person who writes about animals

Zydeco = Louisiana Creole dance music

Zelophobia = irrational or fear of jealousy


Thanks for reading!
Check out my YouTube videos for Slang and Idioms.^^
(link is somewhere on the blog haha)
Later!^^

Y is for..........

You can't have an omelette unless you break the egg.

Sometimes we have to give up something in order to have another thing.

For example:
As a single parent, I know that I would have to give up a lot of my life and my time to raise my daughter. People all over the world make sacrifices for something else, every day.

And so, this one means to me that:

You must sometimes sacrifice something in order to create a new thing.

Updated YouTube videos

New slang videos on YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/varmit1231

Oh...."X"....you devil, you.....

Thinking of and searching for a proverb starting with "X" has proven to be impossible for me. And so, I will do something different.
Instead, I will quote someone who has a name that starts with "X".

Xunzi was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, and one that I find fascinating. He believed things such as human nature is evil and that goodness is caused by intentional activity.

You can read more about him here.

A quote from him is:

"A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned."

"W" is for.................

"What goes around comes around."

I hear this one often.
Have you ever done something inherently good, and later on....something good happened to you?

Or, have you ever done something bad, and then something bad happened to you?

That's where this saying comes in.

To me, it means that:

Good acts will often reward you. Evil acts will quite often punish you. What you do to others, good or bad, will eventually come back to you.

"V" is for......

"Virtue is its own reward."

(Virtue: a quality that people consider to be morally good or desirable in a person.)

This one means to me that:

When we do something virtuous or good, we do not need a reward or compensation. The knowledge that we have done good is reward enough.

"U" is for......

"Use it or lose it."

This one is saying that not using a skill may cause us to lose it.

For instance:
A man knows how to play guitar.
But, he puts his guitar down one day. And then, he doesn't pick it back up for 20 years.
When he does pick it back up to play, he has found that he can't do it as effortlessly as he was once able to. He has forgotten chords; he can't play in time.
Because he has not used his skill in so long, he has lost some of it.

And so, if we have a skill, we must always use it so that we can always keep it.

That is what this proverb means to me.

"T" is for...........................

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."

When we go through trials or tragedies in life, after we have healed and licked our wounds, we become stronger than before.

Our strength lies in wisdom. We have become wise to whatever caused our suffering, and we learn not to put ourselves in that position ever again.

Also, I would argue that we become less naive. Maybe with some of us, our hearts become a little more hardened and a little harder for others to gain access to. But because of that, we are less likely to let those who wish to harm our hearts, in.
Or, maybe our hearts develop imaginary scars caused by the tragedies or sufferings through life, which protect the tender flesh beneath. Each terrible event thereafter causes us less and less suffering because it cannot penetrate through the layers.

At any rate, I believe this proverb to be truth.
When you are going through something so terrible that you think you may die, or that even death would be better....always believe that when you survive it, you will emerge a new, stronger person with wisdom that you didn't have before.

That is what this proverb means to me.

"S" is for...........

" A Still Tongue Makes a Wise Head. "

I've learned a lot of things during my transition from teenage years to adulthood, like most people do. One thing that I've learned is to "hold my tongue". As a teenager, if someone said anything negative to me, I would retaliate and say something negative back immediately. This, of course, only esculated the problem and caused a bigger argument or fight.

But as an adult, if someone says anything negative to me trying to start a fight, I just say nothing until they are ready to talk like civil adults. This, of course, ends the problem a lot sooner and much more peacefully.

That is what this proverb makes me think of.

Sometimes, it is wiser to say nothing.

"R" is for......

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."

When we are very angry and seek revenge, sometimes we act suddenly while we are still angry. Most of the time, the revenge would not work because we were clumsy and haven't thought of a plan. Or, we were rushed and so we were careless.

That's where this proverb comes in. 
What it means is, "Take your time and do not act when you are angry. Allow yourself time to cool off so that you can think. If you are not fueled by blind anger, you will be able to think better and plan better. And then, my naughty friends.....your revenge may work."

And so, if you feel like serving up a big dish of Revenge....allow time for cooling off. Because, revenge is much better when cold.

(P.S. Revenge is bad, mmmm'kay! Be good boys and girls!)

"Q".............

I couldn’t think of a proverb that starts with “Q”, and so I will give a quote instead:

“Quo fata trahunt, retrahuntque sequamur...”—Virgil (from Aenid)

This is Latin for “Wherever the fates lead us, let us follow.”

Many people believe that we are here in this life for a purpose, and that our lives have been predestined.  

On such deep subjects, I (like most) have my own opinions. But, I think what my views sum up to is that….

I compare life to traveling down a road that eventually ends with our death. What scenery we see along the way, the detours we take, the directions we choose to go when we come to a crossroads….all that is up to us, or left to chance.

Wherever the road (fate!) leads us, we should follow.

Anyhow, I am quite fond of this quote.^^ ♥

"P" is for..............

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Imagine if you lived in a glass house. It wouldn’t be very wise to go outside and throw stones at someone, would it? They would then throw stones back at you, and as a result, your house would break and crash to the ground.

In this proverb, “stones” is likely referring to “harsh words” or “untruths”. It is unwise to spread rumors or try and ruin the reputation of one person if you have bad things of your own that you do not want anyone to find out about.

Why tell everyone that you neighbor is having an affair with someone other than his wife, if you are secretly having an affair of your own?

Why claim that your friend talks about people behind their back, if you are doing it yourself?

Why gossip about anyone’s behavior if you are doing similar things yourself, secretly? Like a stone hitting a glass house, your reputation will crumble and crash in the end for being such a hypocrite.

That’s what this proverb means to me.^^

"O" is for................

“Out 

              

                 “Out of small acorns grow mighty oaks.”

 This proverb makes me think of all of the people, who were told that they were too   small to do something, or they weren’t important or rich enough to do something…or that they’ll never amount to anything because they are “nobody”.

                     It’s nonsense.

 Some of our best athletes, great minds, leaders, scientists, etc., were people who    were told similar things as they worked towards their dreams, or dreamed of their futures as children. But, they grew into great people in the end.

This proverb suggests that no matter how small, or how unimportant, you (or others) think you are, you have the potential to become someone great. 

"N" is for............

“Never let the right hand know what the left is doing.”

This is a proverb with a Christian origin. It is referring to charity.

Maybe you know someone like this:

A woman gives money or goods frequently to charity, but she uses every opportunity to mention to others that she does so. She will even say what she donated or how much money specifically. It makes people wonder, “Is she really charitable, or is she doing it for attention from others?”

I call people like this “those who pat their own backs”. It can be anyone who does anything for others, and then brags about it for the sole purpose of making themselves look better.

This proverb suggests that we should be charitable for the purpose of ….being charitable.^^ We shouldn’t do it to receive praises from others, or for self-satisfaction.  We should do these types of things without mention.

Anyhow, that’s what this proverb means to me.

"M" is for...................

"Marry in haste, repent at lesiure."

This proverb is one that I agree with completely.

Imagine a girl who is proposed to by guy that she is not sure about. She always feels that he is not right for her. But, she makes a rash decision to accept the proposal. And so, she marries him.

This is an example of "marrying in haste".

"Marry in haste" means to accept a marriage:
*that you have not thought about completely, or...
*you are not sure the other person is right for you, or....
*you do not know each other very well, or....
*you have not known each other for very long
*etc.

"Repent at lesiure" is like saying that after marrying in such haste you will regret your decision for the duration of the marriage.

Such marriages usually have one of two outcomes:
*divorce, or
*a miserable life if you do not divorce

Anyway, this is what this proverb means to me. It is saying to me that we should take the time to completely know the person we would vow to spend our lives with, and only marry when we are completely sure about our decision to.

"L" is for..................

“Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.”

When I hear this proverb, I think of instances where a person (let’s say they are an honor roll student) becomes friends with people who are troublemakers. Usually, the honor student would be “guilty by association” (which means that because he/she is friends with people who cause trouble, others would assume he/she is a troublemaker as well). In a lot of cases, the honor student would start to adopt characteristics of the troublemakers. Maybe the troublemakers involved the student in a situation that was dangerous or illegal and they face danger or jail-time.

Anyway, we see this often with normally “good” kids getting involved in gangs and then ruining their lives.

And so, to me this proverb means that:

You will become like the company you keep.

"K" is for................

“Kindness will never be wasted in any way.”

If we are kind to someone, there is a chance that the person will be kind in turn. Maybe only to us, but there is a chance that this person will also start being kind to others.

But, what if the person we shared kindness with didn’t appreciate it? What if they turned their backs on it? What if they are mean? I suppose it would feel like a waste.

But, I’m not so sure.

If we keep practicing kindness, over time, we evolve into “kind people”.

Of course there are exceptions: Kindness given for selfish reasons does not make a kind person.

But, to me, this proverb speaks a truth.

Even if kindness bestowed on others is not appreciated or is rejected, there is no waste. With every ounce of kindness that we share, we become kinder people. And so, it wasn’t wasted after all, because it has made us better people.

"J" is for..............

"Jack of all trades, master of none."

This proverb makes me think of myself sometimes.
I like to create various arts, but I am not exceptional in any.
I am decent at various music, but I am not excellent with any.
I studied various sciences, but I am not fully educated in any.

And it goes on.............

This is the trouble of having many talents or too many interests. Life does not give us enough time to fully excel in many things at once. We can only pick one or two things and dedicate our time to those in order to master them. And, if someone is like me.....they gain a new interest, learn it for a while, and then become bored with it because a newer, better interest has come along to take it's place.

Soon enough, those like me know how to do (or have learned) many different things, but none fully.

And so this is what this proverb means to me:

Someone who is competent in many skills, but not outstanding in any particular one.

"I" is for...............

"If the shoe fits, wear it."

There are times when we lose a sense of self. I just mean that....sometimes, it takes other people to point out the things we are doing wrong in life (or our flaws) in order for us to see them.  But, maybe we don't want to accept those things as truths. "It can't be me that they are talking about!", we may feel.

With this proverb, I imagine someone saying to me, "April. See this shoe? It is yours. Take it."
I may say to this person, "But, it can't be my shoe. It doesn't complement me. It is rather ugly."
They will try to assure me that this ugly shoe is mine. Others may come and assure me that this shoe is mine.
And so....I try it on. It's a perfect fit!
"How can this be?", I may say to myself. "When did something of mine become so ugly?"
But, it fits. Everyone assured me that it would, and it really fits. And so, I must accept what they are saying as truth, and wear the shoe.

To me, this proverb means that:

We should accept accurate descriptions of ourselves, even if they are not flattering.

In my thoughts above, I didn't want to accept that something so ugly could be mine even though others assured me it was. But in the end, because it fit me, I had to accept it. I had to wear it.
Of course, I am speaking of our character, and how we portray ourselves to others. And of accepting other people's opinions about our characters.

No one wants to hear about their bad traits, or if they are portraying themselves badly to others. But, if others are saying the same things....if they are all pointing it out....it should be accepted, no matter how bad it is. If it fits....wear it. Accept it.

Because only then can you make a change.

"H" is for..........

“Health is wealth.”

The measure of wealth is different for every person. Most people say that you are wealthy if you have a lot of money. Others say you are wealthy if you have many great friends, because you will never be alone. Some say you are wealthy if you have a loving family, because you will always be loved.

And yet, others believe that health is the greatest measure of wealth.

If we are multi-millionaires, what will it matter if our health is so poor that we can’t enjoy it?

If we have many great friends, what will it matter if, because of poor health, we cannot spend time with them?

If we have a loving family…..it just seems sad that we may have to leave them early because of poor health.

“Health is wealth”, to me, means that health is the most important. In order to enjoy the other things in our life that make us feel as if we are wealthy, we must look after our health.

And so, this proverb causes me to believe that:

A poor man with excellent health is wealthier than a rich man with poor health.

To me, the richest people are the healthy ones.

"G" is for..................

Good swimmers are often drowned.

This proverb warns of overconfidence (being too confident).
I can think of many times when I let my confidence in my ability to become too great, and as a result, I failed badly.

I will use sports as an example:

I am decent at basketball. Once, I was having a great game and then I let myself get overly confident. I started joking to the other player, "You can't score on me". But, then the game changed. I started missing shots. I couldn't block shots. My overconfidence had overshadowed (become greater than) my ability, and I could no longer focus on the game.

That is what this proverb means to me:

Beware of letting your competence (ability) lead you into overconfidence.

"F" is for............

“Failure is the stepping stone to success.”

How can failure lead to success? Failure means we did not achieve something that we worked towards. Failure brings about depression. Failure brings discouragement.

So, how can failure bring success when they are opposite from one another?

This proverb reminds us that in order to achieve greatness, we must, at times, fail.

Why?

 Because we learn lessons from failure. We become wiser and stronger because of failures. We learn not to make the same mistakes again. Failures cause us to work harder in order not to fail again.

Because of failure, we can grow and learn from our mistakes. We can set new goals and aim higher.

An example:

*Because you failed your last exam, you studied harder for the next one and made a good grade.

The failure of the one test led to success on the next one.

 This proverb encourages a positive attitude. There are people who fail and then give up. They, of course, will never succeed. But, the ones who grow wisdom from their failures, they will succeed every time.

"E" is for...................

“Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

This proverb encourages revenge or retaliation.

Today, it doesn’t literally mean that if someone takes your eye or your tooth, that you take his in return. But, it means that if someone were to harm you, you should harm him back.

There are many instances I can think of where this proverb is in action, but I will give one example I see often:

A man breaks a woman’s heart and so she “keys” his car (meaning: she used her car keys to scratch his car badly). Both were important things to the person: the heart to the woman, the car to the man.

Of course, I do not support this way of thinking.

(Naturally, as a normal human being, I would wish revenge on someone who wronged me badly. But, I am also a believer in karma, and so I know the world will right any wrong done to me if I just have patience.)

Another phrase used in place of “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” is “Tit for Tat”. This means the same thing: “What you have done to me, I will now do to you.”

But, I like to think of what Mahatma Gandhi said in return: “an eye for an eye for an eye for an eye….ends in making everyone blind.”

Or…the response of Tevvye, a character in one of my favorite musicals, Fiddler on the Roof: “And then the whole world would be blind and toothless.”

To me, this says that there would be no end. 

If you do something to someone, they will do it back to you. And then, in retaliation, you would attack them again. They would attack again. It would be ongoing. At the end, (if you use the proverb literally), both of you would be blind and toothless. If the whole world behaved this way……then yes, the whole world would be blind and toothless.

Anyway, that is what this proverb means to me. But, it is one that I do not support.^^;

"D" is for.........

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

I have picked up books before, looked at the really cool cover and thought, “This will be a great book!” I have also picked up books that had terrible-looking covers and decided, “This book will be stupid. I shouldn’t bother.”

But, the majority of the time, I am surprised at how wrong I was. Sometimes, the books with the really great covers turn out to be so boring. And, the ones with the boring covers turn out to be really great.

People can be like this too.

Some of the best people I’ve ever known were people that had an outward appearance that caused others to avoid them. Then again, some of the most polished and community-celebrated people I’ve met turned out to be quite evil.

One of the easiest things to do is misjudge someone by their outward appearance.

That is what this proverb means to me:

I use the lesson I have learned with books towards people now.  I no longer pay attention to the cover, and instead.....I read the summary; I read the first few pages. And, only then do I decide whether or not to continue spending my time with that book.

We shouldn’t judge people by their outward appearances.  It is best to get to know people before making a decision on their character, and deciding if they fit into our lives or not.

ね？

"C" is for.......

“Candles lose nothing by lighting another candle.”

Imagine taking a lit candle, and using it to light another candle. The first candle hasn’t lost anything, has it? There is no less flame, right? It is just as bright and well-lit. But now, the other candle shines a light of its own where before, it was cold and without flame.

This can happen with people also.

We lose nothing by sharing kindness, goodness, or inspiration (“light”) with other people. Some people need a little light in their life, or a little help to find a light of their own. So, what’s the harm in being kind to, good to, or to inspire those people if we lose nothing by doing so?

That’s what this proverb means to me.

We are the lit candles. And we lose nothing by sharing our flames with others who need the light.

Do you have a different interpretation? If so, please share!^^

"B" is for.......

“Barking dogs seldom bite.”

When I hear this proverb, I imagine how a lot of dogs I have met behave. They frighten me a little because they will constantly bark. And so, I fear they will bite me.

But, they never bite. Only bark, bark, bark.

People can be like this also.

A boyfriend who always threatens suicide if you break up, but never does;

A “tough  guy” at school who threatens to fight you, but never does;

A parent who threatens to whip you if you misbehave, but you know they never will.

That’s what this proverb means to me:

Much like a barking dog, a person who threatens you constantly rarely carries out his threats.

Perhaps they want to frighten you, maybe they want to manipulate you. With people like this, their power lies in their “bark”. They do not need to “bite”, and usually they are afraid to anyway.

Just……….

Watch out for the growling dogs.^^;

"A" is for........

This month, I am participating in the "A to Z Challenge" where each day of the month (excluding Sundays) I will make a post using a letter of the alphabet for the day. Since this is the first day, the letter is "A".
And, since this is a language blog for English language learners, my theme will be on proverbs.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Have you ever noticed that the longer you are away from something, you really start to miss it?

At the end of a long vacation, I really start to miss my comfortable bed at home.

If my best friend is so busy, I really miss him.

I miss them so much because I cherish them. The longer I am away from them…….the more I realize how much I really do care for them.

That’s what this proverb means.

When you’re away from something, you miss it more. And you realize how much you really do care for it.

Have you ever used this one, or do you have a similar saying?

"A" is also for "Arlee Bird", the creator of this blog challenge.^^
Thanks for creating such a fun and challenging......challenge. ^^;
You rock!