Tag Archives: proverb

“God don’t like ugly, and he’s not too fond of pretty, either,”

“God don’t like ugly, and he’s not too fond of pretty, either,”

Willie: Here- here- here’s another one. God don’t like ugly, and he’s not too fond of pretty, either.

Me: What’s that mean?

Willie: Okay, God doesn’t like people that do bad things, um…and he’s not too fond of people that wanna be perfect, or picture perfect.

My dad heard this from a couple of different places growing up, most namely his grandmother, in preachers’ sermons, and from the little old ladies after church service. It means God isn’t fond of people who are bad and sin often, but he also isn’t fond of people who try to be perfect. Honestly, I’m a big fan of this saying in particular, even though I’ve never personally heard it in context. In my opinion, sometimes, people can misunderstand what their religion asks of them in terms of morals, and try too hard to be the perfect person. Oftentimes, that can be more detrimental.

“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.

Persian Roof Proverb

  1. They go so far up the roof they fall back. 
  2. When someone goes too far into something or pushes themselves too far, it ends up being more counterintuitive than helpful to their initial goal. 

Context:

The speaker presented this when discussing a conversation they had with their mom, bringing this up believing it to be a humorous moment. The discussion that the speaker had with their mom was about veganism, which prompted the speaker’s mother to respond to the explanation of veganism with this proverb, which while a persian proverb, was performed in English.

The performance was done in a manner of telling the story about this conversation with the speaker’s mother, wanting to make a point about how the mother’s response to veganism was humorous, since it was so negative. 

Personal Thoughts:

This piece is quite interesting as it is not only a humorous proverb to use in the context of veganism, clearly showing how when used in this specific context, it is meant to show how the speaker’s mother believes that some vegan practices may go too far. Culturally, many Persian cuisines are meat-based and also, food is a highly important part of Persian culture, as it can be representative of many different things. While in the West it is common to have “vegan alternatives”, that may not be the case for other cultures and the way something is made and what types of food is presented in the dish is highly important, thus it would be understood why some vegan practices may prompt this kind of response. 

French Morning Proverb

  1. Le monde appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt. 
  2. The world belongs to people who wake up early. 

Context:

This performance took place early in the morning and this was being shared to the speaker’s family. The speaker, who is French, brought this specific proverb up to make a point about how it can be a benefit to wake up early in the morning, even if it does not feel like it at the moment. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a really interesting proverb that can reveal what French folk communities may view as what is “best” and socially acceptable. From this specific proverb, one can gather that there is an importance to waking up early, and that by waking up early, there is more to do in the day, thus making the world belong to those who are up early. This could be viewed in context for many things. While France does not have as typically capitalist a society as other Western countries, such as the United States, there may be a prioritization for work, thus getting up in the morning to go to work is seen as a success. France also has a lot of Catholic history and a large population of Catholics, therefore waking up early may tie into attending church ceremonies, which could potentially turn into a folk tradition if this particular view of waking up early has transformed into a religious folk tradition for church goers. While not there is not one specific folk practice that this proverb alludes to, it is interesting to note the different possibilities of what it may relate to, and it should also be noted that the translation in English has a similar structure to it in French, allowing for the proverb to translate fairly smoothly from one language to another. 

The cockroach in the eyes of his mother looks like a gazelle.

Content: 

Y: Let’s start with my dad’s story. So, one day I was asking him for praise or validation, like I always do. And his, so like I showed, I think I was showing him something I was really excited about. And his response- I was like, “do you think it’s good?” And he was like, “the cockroach in the eyes of his mother looks like a gazelle.” And <laugh> he explained like it’s a proverb that his father told him.  I mean, his mother told him over and over again. And I was like, “I’m so offended.” He was like, “no, I’m just saying I’m not a reliable witness cause like I’m always gonna think you’re amazing.” But I still, like, bug him about that proverb to this day.

Background: Y is a 20 year old who was born and raised in New Jersey. She now resides in Los Angeles, California. 

Context: This story was told to me at a hangout among friends.

Analysis: Y’s proverb reminded me of other proverbs or sayings that relate to the unconditional love of a parent. Although it has a more negative connotation, I thought of the saying “they had a face only a mother could love.” What’s interesting about evaluating these sayings side by side is that there’s a notable difference between the statement of unconditional love coming from the parent, such as in Y’s proverb, versus in the second saying, which is meant as an insult from someone outside of the family. The connotations are vastly different.