“Tables are for glasses, not asses.”

Informant’s Sicilian grandma would say this to her when she sat on the table. She would say it a lot because she was always sitting on the table. At the time, informant was mad about being told that. Now, after her grandma has passed, she laughs at it because it’s a nice memory.

This proverb is one that guides the listener to behave in a certain manner, because it is what is seen as proper in society. People don’t like when you sit on tables, and it’s seen as rude, so this rather crude proverb is used to advise on the way to conduct yourself with such furniture. It gives direct advice about what you should and shouldn’t use tables for, so it fits with the societal purpose of proverbs to impart advice onto someone. The way in which this informant learned of this proverb also fits with the typical passing of them, from someone older to someone younger, and even more so that it’s done through family.