Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  Mercedes’ mother would use this proverb regarding her father whenever he got angry about something or began talking big.

Text:

No es tan fiero el león como lo pintan

Transliteration: The lion is not as fierce as he is described

Translation: His bark is worse than his bite.

Analysis:

What I find most notable about this proverb is that it talks about lions, though (as far as I can tell) there are no lions in Mexico.  Consequently, this is probably a more modern proverb.

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  In Mercedes’ class in school, the students used to talk all the time. Then, one day, the instructor shared this proverb with them and the students were more quiet.

Text:

Escucha, o tu lengua te hará sordo.

Transliteration: Listen or your tongue will make you deaf

Translation: It is better to listen than to talk

Analysis:

While the proverb offers sound advice, what is most interesting to me about this story is the effect reciting the proverb had on young students.  It caused the class to change its behavior almost immediately.

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  Mercedes said that a lady in her aunt’s neighborhood knew all the news of the neighborhood and never grew tired of talking.  Consequently, she was described with this proverb.

Text:

La lengua no tiene hueso.

Transliteration: The tongue has no bone.

Translation: She never gets tired of talking.

Analysis:

This proverb uses the tongue as the defining characteristic of a blabbermouth.  Since the tongue is not restricted by a bone, nor is the local gossip restricted in their speech.

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  Maria’s mother used to use this proverb whenever someone asked her to do something she had said she was not going to do.

Text:

Me quite de lechero por no cargar los botes.

Transliteration: I quit being a milkman so that I wouldn’t have to carry the milk containers.

Translation: Don’t ask me to do what I have already decided not to.

Analysis:

This proverb offers a logical argument of why a person would not do a certain task.

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  When Maria was little, her mother would use this proverb whenever she did something bad and tried to cover it up with a lie.  Of course, as all mothers do, she found out eventually.

Text:

La mentira dura mientras la verdad llega.

Transliteration: The lie lasts while the truth arrives

Translation: The lie lasts while the truth arrives

Analysis:

This proverb encourages children to tell the truth, since people will find it out eventually anyways.