“Minulla on oma lechmä ojassa”

“You have your own cow in a ditch”

Sari told me that she learned this proverb when she was about seven years old when she was living in Finland. She was just a little girl but was interested in adult conversations. She told me that she first remember hearing the proverb when her mother and father where having a discussion with some neighbors. The neighbors had a friend of them stay in their house for a long time just because the friend was a business associate and the neighbors did not wanted to ruin the relationship. She then heard her father use the expression to tell the neighbors that they only allowed the friend stay because they had the business reputation to protect. In this case she remembers that the reputation was the cow as it made them react in a certain way because they could not move out of the ditch. She told me that this proverb indicated when people vote in a certain direction just because they have their own investment in the matter. Some restrain make the person react in a certain way. Sari told me that the proverb needs to be used at people that are making forced decisions. She also said that the proverb can make people understand why other people acted the way they did.

I agree with Sari. Sometimes one just has no choice but to follow their constraints. As the proverb states, you have your cow in a ditch. A cow is a very heavy animal and it will be almost impossible to move a cow out of a ditch. Sometimes people need to understand that some actions aren’t being made just because the other person wanted to, but sometimes, there are constraints that make other people act in way that could be unimaginable for them. Also, this proverb is good to show people that they should reconsider some part of their life. If a constraint does not let them vote a certain direction, is it worth having that part of your life? It is like a reality check, people need to realize that a cow will be hard to move so they need to make sure they are making good decisions since the beginning so they don’t have too many cows in ditches.

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“Not spit in the pit, could be useful”

“Don’t spit in the well, you might need the water later”

Tatyana told me that she learn this proverb when she was about seventeen or eighteen years old. She said that she learn it before moving to the United States, while living in Russia. She said that this is mostly used within teens while they are talking about dating. She first heard the proverb when she was talking with her friends about having the idea of dumping her boyfriend. One of her friend told her the proverb and what she meant was that to be careful while dumping this guy, you never know when you will need him later in life. She said that even though she was going to dump him; she should be careful with her tone and the excuses that she uses and try not to make him mad because if you do, you will end the relationship forever. She told me that this was a great advice and she was able to remain friends with this guy. Tatyana also mentioned that this proverb is usually used to tell people to be careful on how they treat other people and that hurting someone could actually hurt you in the future as you might need their help.

I think that this is a great advice. You should never treat anyone badly; don’t ruin your chances with them as you might need them in the future. It symbolizes human beings as being the water of the well and your maltreatment being the spit. If you spit in a well, the water will turn bad and you will not be able to use it in the future. I think that Tatyana gave me the example of a situation that best fit this proverb. If one is about to break up with someone, they should be really careful not to damage the relationships between them. This proverb could be use in many places in the United States; many people treat other bad as they think they will never see them again. I am a good example of that, if I think I will ever see the person again, I just don’t care what I look like or act like. Relationships might end in a better note if people would hear this proverb. Couples could end the relationships better and create better chances of helping each other out.

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“Love ride, love and carry sled”

“If you like to ride the sled, you should also like to drag it”

Tatyana said that she learned this proverb when she was in her teens and living in Russia. She would usually go shopping with her friends and would get tired of carrying all the bags with the merchandise. One day, one of her friends told her the proverb and from that point on, she started to complaint less. She realized that because she likes to shop, she should learn to love to carry all those heavy bags. She told me that the proverb symbolizes that if you love doing an activity, you should ignore and not complaint about the consequences of doing the activity. If you like to slide down the hill, going up the hill should be just as fun. She told me that this proverb is usually told to people that are being hypocrite and it just to show them that they should not be complaining.

I agree with the proverb and with Tatyana’s interpretation of the proverb. If someone wants to have fun, they should not be a hypocrite and complain about the consequences of the activity. An example of this is kids that want their parent to buy them Bionicles. I have 2 cousins that always want Bionicles for Christmas and their birthday. Bionicles are action figures that are part of the LEGO family. They are very cool and have many interesting parts but usually take a while to build. My uncle and I always spent time trying to build these action figures while my cousins are yelling at us that we are not putting them together fast enough. The reason my cousins don’t put them together is that they are too young and get very frustrate very easily as they are young and can not follow directions. We tell them that they need to be patient and should try to built them because that is also part of owning a Bionicle.

The proverb is a great example on how we should not complaint as much as we do. Many college students like to party and sometimes do not work on their homework, for this situation their grades fail and then blame the professors or the university. However, the proverb specifically says that if you want to enjoy your self, you should also enjoy the consequences.

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“Free cheese, only trap”

“Free cheese is only found in the mouse trap”

Tatyana told me that she learned this proverb from her parent when she was fairly young. She doesn’t really remember her age, but she imagines she was probably nine or ten. She told me that her parent use to tell her this when she was small to show her that to earn a good life she needs to work. Tatyana believes that this proverb holds true, if you want to earn a good life you need to work.  She says that if you want to be a free loader, you might rely in your luck and chances are you will perish as only the strong survive this world. Finally, she said that this proverb is use to show kids that they need to work hard and prevent taking things for free.

I agree with Tatyana, this proverb is a great way to teach people that free loading can be dangerous and that working for a reward is better that mooching. If you start to mooch, sooner or later the mouse trap will deploy and will hit you hard. This is saying that it is safer to work than to just stay back and relax. This can be applied to real life situations in the United States. Most classes do student based assignments and there are some students that just let the rest of the group do the work while they take a Sunday afternoon drive. Sometimes they aren’t caught and receive a decent grade, but the day they get caught they have to pay heavy consequences. When they are finally caught, most of the student learn their lesson and start to work for their grade. However we can see that could have been avoided if they would have followed the lesson in the proverb and work hard for their grade in the first place.