Category Archives: Proverbs

French Proverb

Nationality: French
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2016
Primary Language: French
Language: English

The informant is a 21-year-old college student who was born in France, and continued to live there until moving to the United States at age 15. His native language is French, and he did not learn English until after moving to the US.

I asked the informant to grab a cup of coffee on campus, and asked if he could share any French proverbs with me.

The proverb, in French, that he chose to share is: “Qui recherche la lune ne voit pas les étoiles.”

The English translation he provided is: “Someone who looks for the moon misses the stars.”

He said that the proverb is used as a small piece of advice used to let someone know that “if you try to accomplish something that’s near impossible to do, you will miss the things that are possible and that you can do.”

I thought that this proverb was a nice reminder to keep realistic expectations and not worry about factors in life that are outside of our control. It sounds very beautiful when spoken in French, and so I can see how this proverb’s aesthetic quality coupled to its meaning would make it popular among those who speak the language. Following my conversation with the informant, I would love to expand upon my knowledge of the French language and continue to learn more of the proverbs used by those who speak it.

Dog Lifts his Tail

Nationality: Thai
Age: 47
Occupation: Retired Nurse
Residence: Manhattan Beach CA
Performance Date: April 24, 2016
Primary Language: Thai (laotian)
Language: English

There is a Thai proverb, which, loosely translated to English is, “When the dog shits, the dog has to lift its own tail up, nobody lifts his tail.” This basically means being independent and doing your own thing. You must help yourself. You have to do things yourself. Nobody will do it for you.

One man’s junk is another man’s treasure

Nationality: American
Age: 94
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Seattle, WA
Performance Date: April 16th
Primary Language: English

My informant was my 94 year old grandfather. He is a very wise man that has gone through a lot in his life from having polio to creating a multi million dollar company. However, he did not tell me about his life. He discussed one of the motto’s that his father, my great grandfather, held very dear to him which is “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”.

Collector: “Do you know of any proverbs that hold any significance to you?”

Informant: “Yes, my father would always say ‘one man’s junk is another man’s treasure’.

Collector: “Why was this important to him?

Informant: “Throughout his life, particularly in his old age, he would always collect trash from the junk yard or from other places that had what looked like useless junk. But, he somehow found a way to sell these things to people and people liked it. He was a man that hated waste and to see all that stuff being thrown away just killed him. So he made use out of it and collected it and sold it to people that might need it. He made pretty good money doing it too.”

This was awesome to find out because I got to learn more about my great grandfather, his personality and the things he did. I never had the opportunity to meet him so this was very beneficial for me. After doing some research on the origins of this proverb, I found that it originated during the late 17th century. It was first seen in a bound publication of The Athenian Mercury, as “one man’s pleasure is, another’s pain”. This proverb, clearly having the same meaning, was noted again just a few years later, except this time it was “one’s man’s meat is another man’s poison”. Both proverbs communicate the same message as the modern use.

아는 길도 물어가라

Nationality: USA, Korea
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Seattle
Performance Date: 4/19/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

AB is from Seattle, Washington and is an Electrical Engineering major at USC. He is a first generation Korean American. He lived in Korea from 1 to 4 years old, so Korean was technically his first language even though he was born in the United States.

Korean proverb: 아는 길도 물어가라
Pronunciation: Aneun gildo muleogara
Translation: Even if you already know the way, ask again
Meaning: Don’t be overconfident/Don’t assume you already know everything perfectly

“Where did you first hear this proverb?”

“My parents told me and they would say it a lot. I guess you could use it for like…when you are about to do something, you should remind someone to be careful, or be wary, or don’t get cocky kind of. So it’s like reminding someone to double check before they do something.”

Although I have not heard this proverb before, it is something that I often practice in my own life. I am a huge proponent of double checking/clarifying things, especially for school assignments, because I hate spending a ton of time working on an assignment only to find out that I missed an important requirement.

김치국부터 마시지 말라

Nationality: USA, Korea
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Cerritos
Performance Date: 4/19/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

CJ is a student at USC studying Business Administration. He is half Korean and half American, and he lives in Cerritos, California. He was in my Dance in Popular Culture GE last semester.

Proverb: 김치국부터 마시지 말라
Pronunciation: Kimchi-guk-buteo ma-si-ji mal-ra
Literal meaning: Don’t drink the kimchi soup first

“My mom used to say this to me a lot. You can say this when someone gets ahead of him or herself when planning for a project of future. It’s like when you eat a kimchi based dish, you won’t drink the kimchi sauce first right? ”

Because I did not grow up within a Korean household, I am not familiar with specific Korean dining practices such as the proper way to eat kimchi. That is why when I first heard the literal translation of the proverb I was confused. When my informant explained to me the context in which it was used, however, it gave me a better understanding of the origin of the saying. This proverb also emphasizes the importance of food practices in Korean culture.