Category Archives: Proverbs

The Crayfish Sides with the Crab

Original Text: 가재는 게 편이라
Translation: The crayfish sides with the crab.

K is a Korean American whose parents are of Korean ancestry. He is currently in college. He says that he had heard this proverb from his parents. This piece is memorable to him because it simply stood out as peculiar and memorable and is one of the pieces of Korean culture that his mother would say to him frequently.

Context: This proverb came up in a discussion about proverbs. There was a back and forth between interesting proverbs and what they meant before this piece came up.

As with many other childhood proverbs, this proverb serves the role of teaching a young child on how to survive the world. Because both crayfish and crabs are hard shelled creatures that live in similar environments, they normally share similar goals, desires and attitudes. As such, it would be wise for them to take similar sides of an argument because they are so similar. This teaches children that you should help people who are in similar situations as themselves because they will hold similar stakes. This idea of sticking with similarities is present in much of Korean culture as they tend to be cautious of foreign people.

Even Monkeys Can Fall from Trees

Original Phrase: 원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다
Translation: Even monkeys can fall from trees.

K is a Korean American whose parents are of Korean ancestry. He is currently in college. He says that he had heard this proverb from his parents. This piece is memorable to him because he tries to take this message to heart when it comes to doing anything.

Context: This proverb came up in a discussion about proverbs. There was a back and forth between interesting proverbs and what they meant before this piece came up.

This proverb is very similar to other childhood proverbs in that it uses animals to teach children an important lesson in life. This lesson is that even the best, most specialized people can still fail. So do not be over confident. This is because monkeys are typically seen as adapted to living in trees. They spend all their time swinging from tree to tree, often looking like there isn’t a care in the world. In reality, however, these monkeys will still miss and fall from the tree. This message is pretty important to children as it teaches them to be humble about their skills. If you become arrogant and comfortable with your skills without being sufficiently cautious, you can still fail.

Jasmine Flowers Can’t Feed an Ox

茉莉花不喂老牛
Mo Li Hua Bu Wei Lao Niu
Jasmine flowers don’t feed an old ox

C is an older Chinese immigrant who migrated to the US over 20 years ago. She still has very close contact with relatives in China and regularly participates in Chinese cultural practices.

Context: I interviewed C about Chinese cultural customs and beliefs.

This one is very interesting because it is a proverb often said to children. Its meaning is that you shouldn’t be doing something inefficiently. Jasmine flowers are special and are more expensive per pound that what ox normally eat, grass. And because ox eat a lot of grass in one day, it is just not a good idea to spend your money feeding an ox jasmine flowers. Another alternative, more modern, meaning could be to not eat junk food. Chips and other junk foods do not fill up a person as much as a proper meal. Replacing a normal meal with junk food is just a waste of money because it will not last.

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease…”

Folklore/ Text: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease…” 

Explanation/ Context: My parents have always told me that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It’s an old proverb that has been passed through my family for generations and has a greater metaphor. In other words, the proverb tells us that if you work hard, speak up, and vocalize interest toward obtaining or achieving something, your needs will be met and your hard work will serve you well. It’s almost like saying “the early bird gets the worm.” When I complain that I don’t like my meal at a restaurant, my parents will say “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” which translates in my mind to “if you want something different to eat, you gotta speak up!” Or, when I was dying to go to USC in high school they would say “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” which ultimately told me that “I need to work hard and do well in every aspect of my high school career if I wanna achieve the USC acceptance.” This folklore in my family has been verbally passed along to me by my parents, whose parents also passed it down to them. It’s familial folklore, although I’m sure it is used by other people in many other contexts.

German Proverb: Cats in the Night

Background: My friend, ZK, comes from a German family and is bilingual in English and German. I asked her if she knew any German proverbs, and this was her response:

ZK: “Another proverb I know is In der Nacht sind alle Katzen grau, and that translates to ‘in the night all the cats are grey’ which means at night people are no longer individuals because they all look the same.”

Analysis: This proverb is interesting because I think it speaks a lot to a collectivist identity. Similar to the themes of the other proverbs about anti-materiality and delayed gratification, it appears that German proverbs shoot for the long-term goals–in the end, most of what you’re currently doing will be irrelevant, and so constantly having a sense of the big picture appears to be important here, and these proverbs are intended to prevent people from losing focus here.