Category Archives: Proverbs

If You Sleep With Dogs, You Wake Up With Fleas

Nationality: American
Age: 52
Occupation: Administrator (previously Architect)
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/15/2018
Primary Language: English

Item (direct transcription):

If you sleep with dogs, you wake up with fleas.

Background Information:

The informant learned the proverb from her father.

To her, the proverb means that even if you’re “clean,” when you “consort, make friends, do business with, or associate with people who are doing things that you don’t want on you, it will end up on you. Then you could get punished for their acts.”

Contextual Information:

The informant says she would use this proverb to warn someone against associating with someone of questionable character.

Analysis:

This saying meets all four of the canonical criteria for a proverb. It is (1) short, (2) fixed-phrase, (3) rhetorical, and (4) metaphorical.

Another version of this proverb was recorded by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanac as “He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.” This provides a terminus ante quem of 1758 for the proverb.

You Don’t Have to Look for Trouble; Trouble Finds You

Nationality: American
Age: 52
Occupation: Administrator (previously Architect)
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/15/2018
Primary Language: English

Item (direct transcription):

You don’t have to look for trouble; trouble finds you.

Background Information:

The informant learned the proverb from her father.

To her, the proverb means that it’s foolish to take unnecessary risks in life, since even without “looking for trouble,” more than enough trouble is bound to work its way into your life.

Contextual Information:

The informant says she would use this proverb to warn someone against taking an unnecessary risk.

Analysis:

This saying meets at least three out of the four canonical criteria for a proverb. It is (1) short, (2) fixed-phrase, and (3) rhetorical. It is also somewhat metaphorical due to its personification of “trouble.”

You Can’t Put 6-Pounds in a 5-Pound Bag

Nationality: American
Age: 52
Occupation: Administrator (previously Architect)
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/15/2018
Primary Language: English

Item (direct transcription):

You can’t put 6-pounds in a 5-pound bag.

Background Information:

The informant learned the proverb from her architecture mentor whom she worked for during her education. He would tell the proverb to his clients when they were requesting the impossible of him. In the context of architecture, the proverb means that there is only so much that can be fit into a finite amount of space, regardless of the skill or ingenuity of the architect.

The informant continues to use the proverb in the same way when consulting about architecture.

Contextual Information:

The informant says she would use the proverb when someone has unrealistic expectations for what can be fit into their house plans.

Analysis:

This saying meets all four of the canonical criteria for a proverb. It is (1) short, (2) fixed-phrase, (3) rhetorical, and (4) metaphorical.

This proverb is an example of occupational folklore for the occupation of architects.

Spanish Proverb 1

Nationality: Spanish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Madrid, Spain
Performance Date: 7 April 2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Original Transcription: “Más vale prevenir que curar.”

English Transcription: “It is better to prevent than to cure.”

This proverb came from Spain. The literal translation of the phrase is, “it is better to prevent than to cure.” One would use this proverb when you do something that you do not need to do, but you do it as a precaution. For example, a student might say use this phrase while studying their notes in case their professor gives a pop quiz the next day. By reviewing their notes even when unnecessary, the student can prevent (cure) a bad grade. This proverb is a mark of the hardworking, cautionary individual.

English has a proverb that is very similar to this Spanish saying. I thought of this Spanish proverb as the equivalent to the English proverb, “better safe than sorry.”  Both proverbs seek to encourage hard working, forward-thinking behavior. If one is prepared for a variety of possible futures, they will never fall into a precarious circumstance. I found it interesting how these shared cultural values were translated across the world.

 

Spanish Proverb 2

Nationality: Spanish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Madrid, Spain
Performance Date: 7 April 2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Original Transcription: “A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.”

English Transcription: “One who wakes up early, God helps him/her” or “God helps those who wake up early.”

This is another common Spanish proverb. The literal translation of the phrase is “one who wakes up early, God helps him/her.” If this proverb were translated into English syntax, it would read, “God helps those who wake up early.”

The Spanish word “madrugador(a)” refers to an “early riser” or one who wakes up early in the morning. The speaker uses this proverb to describe themselves when they have woken up early, usually before the other members of their family. Due to its meaning, the phrase becomes a form of bragging that shames those who choose sleep over work. Therefore, the proverb inadvertently accuses another person of laziness. If the person being addressed likewise wants God’s help, they must wake up early and begin working.

Although simplistic, the saying intertwines the Spanish cultural values. The proverb communicates the importance of good work ethic and reinforces the value with religious beliefs. The English equivalent of this proverb is “the early bird gets the worm.” The English phrase is a secularized version of the same proverb since it teaches that rewards come directly from one’s hard work. The English proverb places the power of reward into the human’s hands as opposed to the Spanish idea that rewards for hard work come from God.