Lebanese Proverbs

How many times have we heard our grandfathers, fathers and uncles speak and it just doesn't make any sense!

Well maybe these "poetic Lebanese proverbs" might help.

"If anyone is not willing to accept your point of view, try to see his point of view."

"His head is big and his spirit is small." - Said of someone vain and narrow-minded

"You speak to her in the East, she replies in the West." - Said of someone unfocused who's just not there when you talk to them.

"The worst ache is the present ache."

"Like the bell on the mule's tail" - Said of someone who never stops talking.

"He's holding the rope from both ends." - He's working for two sides or wants to be on everybody's good side.

"Like a sheep, he doesn't bite and doesn't scratch." - Said of someone very easy going.

"O high mountain, no wind moves you." - Said of someone who always remains calm and stoic.

"He makes a shirt for the flea." - Said of someone very minute.

"He carries the ladder sideways." - Said of someone who makes things more complicated than they have to be.

"A smeller of air, a picker of roses" - Said of someone dreamy and poetic.

"No life to call to." - Said of someone apathetic or dense.

"Her breath is good for food." - Said of someone who has a gift for cooking, like the French "avoir les pouces verts" for someone good at gardening.

"Go pave the sea." -Get lost in a nice way

"Go sweep the desert." - Said to someone who's just sitting there not doing anything.

"Did I give birth to you and forget you?" - Said to someone who's being harrassing. It means something like "Do I owe you something, that you're not leaving me alone?"

"It's the Italians' fault." - This saying originates in WW2, when the Italians were held responsible for any blackout that happened in the Lebanese cities.

"The grape that is high is 7osrom." - 7osrom is what we call grape when it is still very green and sour. The proverb implies a situation where someone wasn't able to reach the fruit to pick it, and so decided it is too green and he doesn't want it after all.

"An answer from under his sleeve." - A well-placed, witty answer.

"The one who arrived first smelled the basil." - The saying sounds odd until you know that "arrived first" (sabaq) rhymes with "basil" (habaq), hence the sentence.

"Put your hand in cold water." - Chill out. Said to someone angry or unnerved.

"The cat and the mice agreed to wreak havoc in the house." - Describes a situation where enemies have allied themselves against a third party.

"Wait, O horse, for the grass to grow." - When pigs fly. Said of something that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

"As you went, so you return." - Empty-handed.

"Everytime the jug hits the bowl." - This is used in the beginning of a sentence in the meaning of "every two minutes".

"The stick makes the bear dance." - Threats can achieve anything.

"One who is not moved by words is not moved by the stick." - Contradicts the above!

"In his head a song; he sang it." - Said of someone who placed something he'd been wanting to say forever.

"The ape is in his mother's eyes a gazelle" - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

"The brother is a wing." - The wing implies, "to seek refuge under".

"The neighbour before the house, and the companion before the road." - The company is more important than the situation itself, so it had better be chosen wisely.

"The one who has no elder, let him buy himself an elder." - The reference is to how precious the wisdom of old people is.

"A house of men not a house of money." - Having many sons is better than being rich.

"Eat the way you like, and dress the way people like."

"Birds fall together according to their kind." - Birds of a feather flock together.

"A house of men not a house of money." - Having many sons is better than being rich.

"Behind every great man is a woman."

"The children's judge hanged himself." - This refers to the fact that it's impossible to understand the minds of children.

"The child is a child even if he rules a country." - The original sentence is a rhyme:
Alwalad walad
walaw 7akam balad.

"Scratch me so I can scratch you." - An exchange of favors.

"The pauper who has no debts is rich."

"Poverty blinds the heart."

"The scholar without works is like a cloud without rain."

"Move away from evil and sing to it." - It conveys the image of someone stepping away from danger and then taking advantage of the safe position to deafen it with serenades.

"Lower your voice and strengthen your argument."

"Remember the wolf and prepare your stick." - be prepared.

"Starve your cat so he'll eat your mice, satiate your dog so he'll protect your house."

"The flowing brook, not the dry river." - A small but constant source of income is better than a large yet unreliable one.

"Don't say "bean" until it is in the dish." - Don't put the cart before the horses. "Bean" and "dish" rhyme (fool, makyool)

"Close your house, secure your neighbour."

"Hide your white money for your black day." - Saving for a rainy day.

"Give your bread to the baker, even if he eats half of it." - Meaning: Always go to the expert, even if it costs you more.

"Not every rock is suitable for construction."

"The one who doesn't fall, doesn't get up."

"The human being learns solely from his own bag."

"Sleep early, rise early, see what becomes of your health!"

"Everything is good when the health is good."

"The eating is proportionate to the love." - In Lebanon, when visiting someone, the best way to make your host happy is to eat heartily of anything offered to you -- this demonstrates your love for them.

"The country that you reach, eat of its onion." - Every village gets its drinking water from a different source or well, and the change was considered risky as one could get sick. Onion was reputed antibiotic and prevented disagreeable experiences..

"May the cups of velvety cream be spread on the mat and the plates of lentils and pasta line up all the way to the house's door." - This illustrates how generous a household should be: these dishes should alway be ready in abundance in case of visits.

"Love truth even if it harms you, and hate lie even if it serves you."

"The happiest of your days is the keeping of your word."

"The one who sees me with one eye, I see him with both." - This proverb actually means: When someone does me a favor or is good to me, I return his kindness twofold.

"The shadow of the generous man is vast." - Meaning: A generous man can help a large number of people.

"Patience is the key to life's problems."

"Patience extracts sugar from a lemon."

"The mind is a jewel."

"Love conceals the shames." - Love is blind.

"The mother of the killer forgets, the mother of the killed does not forget."

"One who digs a hole (=a trick) falls in it."

"The one who is quiet about the truth is like the one who lies"

"Silence is the brother of agreement" - Similar to the one above.

"Joviality is better than hospitality."

"Labor is not a shame, the shame is on those who make it a shame."

"Greed harmed instead of profiting." - By wanting all we lose all.

Development by EC