Main Context: “You give someone a fish, they eat for one day. You teach them how to fish, they eat everyday” Context: This piece of folklore was collected in a Taco Bell I work at. I asked my fellow employee if there were any sayings or proverbs that he knew. He gave me one and then after when we both took our breaks he told me this proverb. This time we were sitting down at a table in the dining area and eating. Background: Lee is a third generation American. However, his ancestral roots originate in South Korea. Lee said that he learned this proverb from his parents. He does not recall which one said it first but just stated that both of his parents constantly say this proverb. I asked Lee what this proverb meant to him and he replied: Lee: This proverb is not as meaningful as the other one. This proverb is more like… well my parents use it as a constant reminder that I should just copy or give someone answers. Like that doesn’t solve the problem. It only temporarily helps. Analysis: Proverbs are used as a shorthand form of communication to relay a truthful yet meaningful point. They hold weight through repetition and we could see this through Lee’s perception of the proverb. His parents are attempting to prove the point that he should just have something handed to him or to just hand anyone anything. He needs to learn or teach them how to do it. According to the proverb, this is because if you just hand them something, it will only temporarily alleviate the issue. If you teach them then they would know how to do it all the time. You can also see that this proverb hold its weight through repetition because Lee says his parents use it as “a constant reminder”.
Category Archives: Proverbs
Wisdom about Human Interaction
Small minds talk about people, mediocre minds talk about things, great minds talk about ideas.
This is a prayer that my friend’s mom always told her. When she was telling me about his parish she was explaining how people have the capacity to think however they want. When Making ideas, there are different Things that people associate with. When people talk about people, it is referring to the people that gossip, and there isn’t much substance to the conversation. When others talk about things, it could mean anything from my favorite fruit is an apple or my favorite place in the world is Africa. This kind of storytelling has some kind of significance to that person, however, it isn’t necessarily relevant or important to anything except themselves. Lastly, when people talk about ideas, it shows it they are innovative and thinking critically about how the world works and their place and it. This kind of thinking delves into creation and business models which could be considered great. Parents often tell this to their children to help them become the best version of themselves and to think about the world in many different kinds of ways.
Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
This proverb is very commonly used. In any given situation I try to be the most positive that I can, and always prepare for something to happen even if it’s not probable. This proverb and what it meant to her. When you have a positive mindset it is much easier to attract great energy and not have something bad happen, however, there are coincidences where people think everything’s going fine and something sudden happens that is horrible. And an example where this proverb really comes into play was during my friend’s math class. Every day after class the professor would assign students homework. She said that the student should all prepare to hand in their homework to count as a quiz Grade but it was dependent upon their gas on a tour a coin toss. It’s not guaranteed that they will always guess right, but by preparing for the worst, which would be to hand in the homework or do not hand it in if you didn’t complete it, your grade would drop. Hoping for the best would be that you guessed right, and do not have to hand in your homework, so if you didn’t do it and you guys all gas right you would be saved. This proverb can be applied to almost any situation and is just a great thing to keep in the back of your mind on a day-to-day basis.
Friendship Protocol
Keep your friends close and enemies closer.
When my brother went to college, he encountered a lot of difficulties making friends. He explained to me how keeping his friends close and enemies closer really helped him. If your friends are close, you trust them and have a compliance that they will not do anything bad to you. Your enemies, however, will. You never know what information they have about you, so it’s important to get to know every single person that you meet. While you may not know that someone is your enemy, it is important to learn things about every individual you and counter just in case of a scenario that May hurt you. When you have a situation where someone can have leverage on you, your enemy, it is important to also have leverage on them so you will not be completely thrown under the bus. You normally don’t have to worry about these kinds of things with your friends, because well, they are your friends.
“Life isn’t fair.”
“Mom, like, really doesn’t like the idea of proverbs, so I wouldn’t tell her this is one. It definitely comes from her being an English Professor and having to read lots of student stories where the just write the same really cliché stuff and like try to sound deep or poetic by repeating things they’ve read, which I agree would but super frustrating. But, anyways, she doesn’t like proverbs, but there’s this one phrase she’s always saying. And it’s “life isn’t fair.” Which, I mean, I don’t know if it’s really a proverb, but it’s something a lot of people say in response to stuff. It gets really annoying, like, you know, sometimes you just want to complain about something, but she uses it to shut you up. I mean, like, maybe life isn’t fair, but maybe it should be.”
I asked one of my informants if she had any proverbs she used frequently, and she told me that she never uses proverbs. She hates how they become a crutch for people who are too lazy to try to actually articulate what they want to say precisely. While I accepted her argument, I found it a little suspicious that someone could go entirely without using any proverbs. So, I decided to get a different perspective from her daughter, who revealed she was perhaps as not a purely original as she thought. This just goes to show how essential folk-speech is to language. After all, almost all of our formative language-learning comes from hearing grown-ups talk while we are babies, not from any sort of formalized guide—although many books to exists to help children learn, and when we are older, we grow our skills and vocabulary by reading complex works. Even if we actively try to avoid simply repeating sayings, it is impossible to avoid picking up phrases.