4. Repertories of proverbs, metaphors and idioms
This section collects a number of common expressions, labelled as idioms in several textbooks on English as a foreign language. As a matter of fact, these sentences and phrases have a great variety of sources: famous quotes (above all from the Bible, from Shakespeare and from Latin classics but also from many other authors), proverbs, stock metaphors, etc. It is essential to know them in order to understand a text correctly, since the global meaning of these expressions does not correspond to its literal meaning, that is, to the sum of the single words.
Any competent speaker of Italian knows that if someone "ci ha lasciato lo zampino" this means that after repeated wrong-doing he has been found out and now he must pay for it (from the proverb beginning "Tanto va la gatta al lardo..."); likewise, to be competent users of English we must know what a finger in the pie is, or what people are going to do when they are going to paint the town red (certainly not "dipingere la città di rosso", as we happened to read in a ‘translation').
The main objective, therefore, is to encourage a widening of our knowledge in order to achieve a high degree of competence in understanding English texts that contain idioms (which practically means all the texts that are not strictly technical or scientific). The use of these expressions, on the other hand, is not always to be encouraged in learners, as it is very difficult to develop the perception of their real value, the sensitivity to the contexts where they can be used, and the awareness about the apprpriate level of formality or informality (i.e. the register). Italians know that "piove a catinelle" is now almost obsolete, also because very few households still have old-fashioned wash-basins where water was kept in "catinelle" — and even then nobody throws the dirty water out of the window! Similarly, the English saying it's raining cats and dogs is definitely old-fashioned; resorting to idioms of this kind in order to sound "more natural" can therefore lead to the opposite effect: one may easily sound strange, foreign and outmoded.
The following repertories can be analysed in various ways; for example, these activities can be useful:
From the formal point of view, the remarkable features in proverbs are:
A bad penny always turns up
A bad workman always blames his tools
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A burnt child dreads the fire
A cat has nine lives
A cat may look at a king
A cheerful wife is the joy of life
A constant guest is never welcome
A contented mind is a perpetual feast
A drowning man will catch a straw
A fool and his money are soon parted
A fool may sometimes give a wise man counsel
A friend in need is a friend indeed
A friend is easier lost than found
A good beginning is half the battle
A good conscience is a soft pillow
A good husband makes a good wife
A good name is sooner lost than won
A good wife is a good prize
A house divided against itself cannot stand
A little is better than none
A living dog is better than a dead lion
A man can only die once
A man is known by his friends
A man is as old as he feels (himself to be)
A merry heart goes all the way
A miss is as good as a mile
A ragged coat may cover an honest man
A red sky at night is the shepherd's delight
A red sky in the morning is the shepherd's warning
A rolling stone gathers no moss
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
A soft answer turneth away wrath
A stitch in time saves nine
A straw will show which way the wind blows
A tale never loses in the telling
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever
A thing you don't want is dear at any price
A useful trade is a mine of gold
A white wall is a fool's paper
A wilful man must have his way
A woman's work is never done
A woman, a dog and a walnut tree / The more you beat them, the better they be
A wonder lasts but nine days
A word to the wise is enough
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Actions speak louder than words
Adam's ale is the best brew
Adversity makes a man wise, not rich
Adversity makes strange bedfellows
After a storm comes a calm
All his geese are swans
All is fish that comes to the net
All lay loads on a willing horse
All roads lead to Rome
All that glitters is not gold
All truth is not always to be told
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All's fair in love and war
All's well that ends well
Among the blind the one-eyed man is king
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
An army marches on its stomach
An Englishman's home is his castle
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
An ounce of luck is better than a pound of wisdom
As a man makes his bed so he must lie
As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb
At night all cats are grey
Bad excuses are worse than none
Barking dogs seldom bite
Be just before you are generous
Be sure before you marry of a house wherein to tarry
Beauty and folly are often companions
Beauty is but skin-deep
Beggars' bags are bottomless
Best is cheapest
Better be a fool than a knave
Better be born lucky than wise
Better be alone than in ill company
Better bend than break
Better buy than borrow
Better go to heaven in rags than to hell in embroidery
Better late than never (But better, never late)
Better lose the saddle than the horse
Better to ask the way than go astray
Better to wear out than rust out
Between two stools you fall to the ground
Beware of no man more than thyself
Birds of a feather flock together
Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed
Blood is thicker than water
Books and friends should be few but good
Boys will be boys
Brevity is the soul of wit
Call a spade a spade
Care killed the cat
Cast not a clout ere May be out
Catch the bear before you sell its skin
Charity begins at home
Cheats never prosper
Children and fools tell the truth
Children should be seen but not heard
Choose a wife by your ear rather than by your eye
Circumstances alter cases
Cleanliness is next to godliness
Cloudy mornings turn to clear evenings
Comfort is better than pride
Coming events cast their shadows before
Content is better than riches
Courtesy costs nothing
Cowards die many times before their deaths
Custom rules the law
Cut your coat according to your cloth
Dead men tell no tales
Death is the great leveller
Death pays all debts
Delays are dangerous
Despise not your enemy
Discretion is the better part of valour
Do as I say, not as I do
Do it now
Do not count your chickens before they are hatched
Do not cry for the moon
Do not cry out before you are hurt
Do not cut off your nose to spite your face
Do not halloo till you are out of the wood
Do not keep a dog and bark yourself
Do not keep all your eggs in one basket
Do not play with edged tools
Do not quarrel with your bread and butter
Do not rob Peter to pay Paul
Do not spur a willing horse
Do not tell tales out of school
Do not try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs
Do not wear out your welcome
Do what is right, come what may
Dog does not eat dog
Doing nothing is doing ill
Dreams go by contraries
Dumb dogs are dangerous
Dying is as natural as living
Each day brings its own bread
Early to bed and early to rise, / Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
Empty vessels make the most noise
Enough is as good as a feast
Envy never enriched any man
Even a worm will turn
Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea
Evening red and morning grey, are the signs of a fine day
Every ass likes to hear himself bray
Every cloud has a silver lining
Every dog has his day
Every law has a loophole
Every little helps
Every man has his price
Every man is his own enemy
Every man must carry his own cross
Every woman would rather be beautiful than good
Everybody's business is nobody's business
Everything comes to him who waits
Example is better than precept
Exchange is no robbery
Experience is the best teacher
Experience must be bought
Extremes are dangerous
Faint heart ne'er won fair lady
False friends are worse than bitter enemies
Familiarity breeds contempt
Findings are keepings
Fine feathers make fine birds
Fingers were made before forks
Fire is a good servant but a bad master
First come, first served
First impressions are the most lasting
Flies are easier caught with honey than with vinegar
Fools build houses and wise men live in them
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
Forbidden fruit is sweetest
Fortune favours fools
Fortune favours the brave
Fortune favours those who use their judgement
Fortune knocks once at everyone's door
Friendship should not be all on one side
Give a dog a bad name and hang him
Give a fool enough rope and he will hang himself
Give him an inch and he will take a yard
Give the devil his due
Go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark
Go while the going is good
God helps those who help themselves
God made the country; man made the town
God never sends mouths but he sends meat
God sends meat: the devil sends cooks
God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb
Gold will not buy everything
Good wine needs no bush
Good words are worth much and cost little
Grasp all, lose all
Great minds think alike
Grin and bear it
Habit is second nature
Half a loaf is better than no bread
Handsome is as handsome does
Happy is he that is happy in his children
Happy is the bride that the sun shines on
Happy is the nation that has no history
Haste is of the devil
Hasty climbers have sudden falls
Have two strings to your bow
He daren't say "Boo" to a goose
He gives twice who gives quickly
He has a bee in his bonnet
He is like a fish out of water
He is rich that has few wants
He knows most who speaks least
He laughs best who laughs last
He preaches best who lives best
He runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds
He that fears death lives not
He that fights and runs away / Lives to fight another day
He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing
He that has a tongue in his head may find his way anywhere
He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned
He that is down need fear no fall
He that pays the piper call the tune
He that would command must serve
He who hesitates is lost
He who rides on a tiger can never dismount
He who would hang his dog gives out first that it is mad
Health is better than wealth
Health is not valued till sickness comes
His bark is worse than his bite
Home is where the heart is
Honesty is the best policy
Hope springs eternal in the human breast
Hunger is the best sauce
I know on which side my bread is buttered
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again
If it were not for hope the heart would break
If the cap fits, wear it
If the mountain will not go to Muhammed, then Muhammed must go to the mountain
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
If you cannot bite never show your teeth
If you run after two hares at once you will catch neither
Ill news comes apace
It is a dirty bird that fouls its own nest
It is a long road that has no turning
It is a poor heart that never rejoices
It is all in the day's work
It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good
It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive
It is easier to get money than to keep it
It is easy to bear the misfortunes of others
It is good fishing in troubled waters
It is never too late to mend
It is no use crying over spilt milk
It is the first step that is troublesome
It is too late to shut the stable door after the horse has been stolen
It never rains but it pours
It takes all sorts to make a world
It was the last straw that broke the camel's back
It will all be the same a thousand years hence
Jack of all trades, master of none
Keep your mouth shut and your ears open
Kill not the goose that lays the golden eggs
Kill two birds with one stone
Kiss and be friends
Knowledge is power
Laugh and grow fat
Laugh, and the world laughs with you; / Weep, and you weep alone
Least said, sooner mended
Leave well alone
Let bygones be bygones
Let sleeping dogs lie
Let the cobbler stick to his last
Life is not all beer and skittles
Like draws to like the whole world over
Listeners seldom hear good of themselves
Little pitchers have big ears
Little things please little minds
Live and learn
Live and let live
Live not to eat but eat to live
London streets are paved with gold
Long absent, soon forgotten
Look after number one
Look at the bright side
Look before you leap
Lookers-on see most of the game
Love is blind
Love me little, love me long
Love me, love my dog
Lovers' quarrels are soon mended
Maidens should be meek till they are married
Make haste slowly
Make hay while the sun shines
Man proposes; God disposes
Manners make the man
Many hands make light work
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb
March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers
Marriages are made in heaven
Marry in haste; repent at leisure
Men make houses; women make homes
Misfortunes never come singly
Moderation in all things
Money breeds money
Money is the root of all evil
Money is the sinews of war
Money talks
More haste, less speed
Murder will out
Music has charms to soothe the savage breast
Nature abhors a vacuum
Necessity is the mother of invention
Necessity knows no law
Needs must go when the devil drives
Neither a borrower nor a lender be
Never buy a pig in a poke
Never cross a bridge till you come to it
Never do things by halves
Never give advice unasked
Never hit a man when he's down
Never look a gift horse in the mouth
Never meet trouble half way
Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Never refuse a good offer
Never say "die"; up, man, and try
Never spoil a ship for a ha'porth of tar
Never swap horses in midstream
Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you
No bees, no honey; no work, no money
No fool like an old fool
No man cries "stinking fish"
No man is a hero to his valet
No man is indispensable
No news is good news
No offence taken when none is meant
Nobody's enemy but his own
None but the brave deserves the fair
None so blind as those that will not see
None so deaf as those that will not hear
Nothing is certain but death -- and taxes
Nothing is cheap if you don't want it
Nothing succeeds like success
Nothing venture, nothing have
Of two evils choose the less
Old birds are not caught with chaff
Old customs are best
Old shoes are easiest
Once a thief, always a thief
One good turn deserves another
One half of the world does not know how the other half lives
One man's meat is another man's poison
One may lead a horse to the water, but twenty cannot make it drink
One swallow does not make a summer
Other times, other manners
Out of sight, out of mind
Penny wise, pound foolish
Pity is akin to love
Possession is nine-tenths (points) of the law
Practice makes perfect
Prevention is better than cure (An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure)
Pride goes before a fall
Punctuality is the politeness of kings
Put your foot down where you mean to stand
Put your shoulder to the wheel
Rain before seven, fine before eleven
Remove an old tree and it will wither to death
Rome was not built in a day
Rumour is a lying jade
Satan always finds work for idle hands
Save me from my friends
Say nothing but think the more
Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
See Naples and die
Self praise is no recommendation
Set a beggar on horseback and he will ride to the devil
Set a thief to catch a thief
Share and share alike
Silence gives consent
Sleep over it
Slow and steady wins the race
Spare the rod and spoil the child
Speak of a man as you find him
Speak when you are spoken to; come when you are called
Speech is silver, silence is golden
Still waters run deep
Stolen fruit is sweetest
Strike while the iron is hot
Sweet are the uses of adversity
Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves
Take no thought for the morrow
Tell a lie and stick to it
The best things are hard to come by
The better the day, the better the deed
The cat would eat fish but is loth to wet her feet
The child is father of the man
The day must have an end
The devil is not so black as he is painted
The devil looks after his own
The early bird catches the worm
The end justifies the means
The exception proves the rule
The grapes are sour, as the fox said when he could not reach them
The higher up, the greater the fall
The King can do no wrong
The King is dead: long live the King
The last drop makes the cup run over
The leopard cannot change its spots
The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small
The more the merrier
The more you have, the more you want
The old cow thinks she was never a calf
The pot calls the kettle black
The proof of the pudding is in the eating
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
The watched pot never boils
The wish is father to the thought
There is a skeleton in the cupboard
There is a snake in the grass
There is a time for all things
There is life in the old dog yet
There is many a slip between cup and lip
There is many a true word spoken in jest
There is no royal road to learning
There is no rule without an exception
There is no smoke without fire
There is no time like the present
There's a good time coming
There's no place like home
There's safety in numbers
They that live longest see most
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones
Those whom the gods love die young
Though I say it that shouldn't
Thoughts are free
Time and tide wait for no man
Time flies
Time is money
Tit for tat is fair play
To be forewarned is to be forearmed
To know the disease is half the cure
Tomorrow is another day
Tomorrow never comes
Too many cooks spoil the broth
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it
Trouble runs off him like water off a duck's back
True love never grows old
Trust in God and keep your powders dry
Truth is stranger than fiction
Truth lies at the bottom of a well
Truth will conquer
Turn over a new leaf
Two blacks do not make a white
Two heads are better than one
Two is company; three is none
Two wrongs do not make a right
Union is strength
Virtue is its own reward
Walls have ears
Wash your dirty linen at home
Waste not; want not
Well begun is half done
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander
What is worth doing at all is worth doing well
What's learnt in the cradle lasts till the tomb
When a man is going down-hill, everyone will give him a push
When in Rome do as the Romans do
When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window
When rogues fall out, then honest men come by their own
When the cat is away the mice will play
When the wind is in the east / It's neither good for man nor beast
Where (while) there's life there's hope
Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise
Where there's a will, there's a way
Who will bell the cat?
Whom God will destroy he first makes mad
Why keep a cow when you can buy milk?
Wink at small faults
Words are but wind, but seeing's believing
Work won't kill but worry will
You are never too old to learn
You can't eat your cake and have it
You can't get blood out of a stone
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
You cannot see the wood for the trees
You dig your grave with your teeth
You drive a coach and four through an act of Parliament
You may have too much of a good thing
You must not expect old heads on young shoulders
You never know till you have tried
You never know your luck
Youth and age will never agree
Youth must have its fling