Greek Proverbs I

Α

* "Άγιος που δε θαυματουργεί, μηδέ δοξολογιέται."
o "The saint who works no miracles isn't glorified."


* "Αγάλι-αγάλι γίνεται η αγουρίδα μέλι."
o 'A green fruit gets ripe slowly.
o Patience.


* "Αδερφός, κι ας ειν' κι οχτρός." (Κεφαλονίτικη παροιμία)
o "Brother, even though he is your enemy."
o Blood is thicker than water.


* "Ακαμάτης νέος, γέρος διακονιάρης."
o Lazy youth, begging old age.
o Laziness.


* "Άλλα λέει η γιαγιά μου, άλλα ακούνε τα αυτιά μου."
o "My grandmother says something, my ears hear something else."
o The real meaning is deeper. It means that the young do not listen to the old.


* "Αν δεν παινέσεις το σπίτι σου, θα πέσει να σε πλακώσει"
o "If you do not praise your own home, it will fall on you and squash you."'
o You do not speak badly about your own family.


* "Αλλοι τα γένια πεθυμούν, κι άλλοι που τα 'χουνε τα φτυούν."
o "Some wish they had a beard and the ones that do, are spitting on it."
o The young wish to be old, and the old wish to be young again.


* "Άλλος σπέρνει και τρυγάει, κι άλλος πίνει και μεθάει."
o "One seeds and harvests and another drinks and gets drunk."


* "Αμαρτία 'ξομολογημένη, η μισή συγχωρεμένη."
o "A confessed sin is half a sin."
o A confessed sin is half-forgiven.


* "Aν πιαστείς στο χορό θα χορέψεις."
o "If you join the dance-circle, you must dance."
o On getting swept along by events.


* "Άνθρωπος αγράμματος, ξύλο απελέκητο."
o "The illiterate person is like an uncarved piece of wood."
o Literacy.


* "Απ' αγκάθι βγαίνει ρόδο κι από ρόδο βγαίνει αγκάθι."
o "From a thorn a rose emerges and from a rose a thorn."
o Atavism, or one doesn't know what their offspring will become in life. Example: An honest, respected man's son may turn out to be a criminal and vice versa.


* "Απ' έξω κούκλα κι από μέσα πανούκλα."
o "Outside a doll, inside the plague."
o Duality. Used to describe a beautiful woman with a terrible character.


* "Απο μακρυά και αγαπημένοι παρά απο κοντά και μαλωμένοι."
o "From far away and beloved rather than close by and arguing."
o Better to live apart and get along than to live together and argue.


* "Απο μικρό και απο κουζουλό μαθαίνεις την αλήθεια."
o "From a child and a crazy person you learn the truth."



* "Απού 'χασε το χοίρο του, όλο μουγκρές εγροίκα"
o "He who lost his pig, kept hearing grunts"


* "Από την πόλη έρχομαι, και στην κορφή Kανέλα."
o "I'm coming from town, and you are talking about the peak of Salamina island."
o A surrealist turn of phrase used to describe lack of communication.


* "Αργία μήτηρ πάσης κακίας." (αρχαιοελληνικό ρητό)
o "Laziness, mother of all evil." (ancient Greek saying)
o Laziness.


* "'Ας με λενε Βοϊβοντίνα κι'άς ψοφώ από την πείνα."
o "Let me be called 'Voivoidina' even if I'm dying of hunger."
o Prestige (being the wife of a high official; a Voivod) is worth it even if you live miserably.


* "Αυτά που θες ξενέρωτος, τα κάνεις μεθυσμένος."
o "What you wish for when you're sober, you act-out when drunk."
o Drunkenness and loss of inhibitions.

Β

* "Βοήθα με να σε βοηθώ ν' ανεβούμε το βουνό."
o "Help me, so that I can help you, so that we can climb the mountain."
o Cooperation.

Γ

* "Γεννήθηκε ξεβράκωτος, και ντρέπεται ντυμένος."
o "He was born without pants and is ashamed to be dressed."
o When one person is not raised properly and is accustomed to poor manners or a poor way of life, they are uncomfortable doing things properly.


* "Γλύφει, εκεί που έφτυνε."
o "He licks, where he used to spit."
o Submission. Refers to being wildly inconsistent and/or sucking up to someone.


* "Γουρούνι στο σακί"
o "A pig in a sack."
o A warning not to buy blindly, like buying a pig in a sack.


* "Γέρος γάτος, τρυφερά ποντίκια θέλει."
o "An old cat wants young mice."
o Old-age sex. Also: "a Dirty Old Man".


* "Γριά αλεπού στην παγίδα δεν πιάνεται."
o "You can't catch an old fox in a trap."
o Experience.


* "Για τον εχθρό που φεύγει, φτιάξε χρυσό γεφύρι."
o "For the enemy that leaves, build a golden bridge."
o Enemy.


* "Γυναίκα που δε θέλει να ζυμώσει, πέντε μέρες κοσκινίζει."
o "The woman who doesn't wish to bake bread, spends five days sifting."
o Procrastination.


*
o "Γιά το καρφί έχασε το πέταλο."
o "For (because of) the nail he lost the horseshoe."
o If you don't take care of small problems, they eventually get bigger.

Δ

* "Δάσκαλε που δίδασκες και νόμο δεν εκράτεις."
o "Teacher who taught, but did not keep your books."
o Practice what you preach.


* Δρυός πεσούσης, πάς ανήρ ξυλεύεται.
o Out of a fallen tree, every man jumps wood.
o When the oak tree falls, everyone its timber claims.


* "Δώσε τόπο στην οργή."
o "Shove anger aside."
o Don't make a harsh decision while angry; Don't make a decision/choice out of anger.

Ε

* "Έβαλαν το λύκο να φυλάξει τα πρόβατα."
o "They put the wolf to guard the sheep"
o They asked someone corrupt to have a task of civil importance.


* "Εκύλισε ο τέτζερης και βρήκε το καπάκι."
o "The kettle rolled down and found the lid."
o A person of a certain character always finds another of the same.


* "Ένας κούκος δε φέρνει την Άνοιξη."
o "One cuckoo bird does not bring the spring."
o If one good thing happens in your life, it is not an indication that everything will get better.


* "Έξω απ' το χορό λες πολλά τραγούδια."
o "From outside the dance-circle, you sing a lot of songs."
o Someone who's not doing, does a lot of talking. Akin to "Easier said than done".


* "Είπε ο γάιδαρος τον πετεινό κεφάλα."
o "The donkey called the rooster bigheaded."
o Similar to "The pot calling the kettle black" or "Look who's talking".


* "Έχασε η Βενετιά βελόνι."
o "Venice lost a needle."
o It's no big matter if you lose something you have aplenty. Referring to Venice's riches.


* "Έχει ο καιρός γυρίσματα, κι ο χρόνος εβδομάδες."
o "Time has turns, and the year has weeks."
o Patience.


* "Εχει του πουλιού το γάλα."
o "He has (even) the bird's milk."
o A person who has a lot, even something that is rare and unavailble to most.

Η

* "Η πείνα κάστρα πολεμάει και κάστρα παραδίνει."
o "Hunger fights castles and hunger surrenders castles."
o Hunger/Need. A hungry person will do anything to survive, from fighting for a cause to betraying it.


* "Η τρέλα δεν πάει στα βουνά."
o "Madness doesn't visit the mountains."
o Madness is manifested towards something you are conversing/thinking about.
o There is another clause to this proverb that is generally omitted. The second clause is "πάει στούς ανθρώπους" (it goes to people). The entire proverb is as follows: Η τρέλα δεν πάει στα βουνά, πάει στους ανθρώπους". So, what one says is "Madness does not go to the mountains, it goes to people".


* "Η γριά κότα έχει το ζουμί."
o "It's the old chicken that has the juice."
o Don't discredit elder people/ideas (also used ironically). It often refers to sexual relations, with older women having more sexual experience and being able satisfy a man more than a younger woman can.


* "Η καμήλα δεν βλέπει την καμπούρα της"
o "The camel does not see her own hump."
o We readily see other people's faults but fail to see our own.


* "Η πάστρα είναι αρετή."
o "Cleanliness is a virtue."


* "H γριά δεν είχε δαίμονα κι'αγόραζε λαχτέντα."
o "The old woman didn't have a demon (i.e., problem) and she was buying piglets."
o When someone goes looking for trouble or creates problems where there were none (since raising piglets is a lot of trouble).


* "Η γλώσσα τιμάει το πρόσωπο."
o "The way of speaking honors the face/person." ("πρόσωπο" in Greek means "person" as well as face).
o Eloquence.


* "Ή μικρός παντρέψου, ή μικρός καλογερέψου."
o "Either get married early, or become a monk early."
o Used to convince people to marry young.


* "Η βιβλιοθήκη είναι το φαρμακείο του μυαλού."
o "A library is a repository of medicine for the mind."
o Used to convey importance of books.


* "Η τιμή τιμή δεν έχει και χαρά σ'τον που την έχει."
o "Honor is priceless and glad be he who has it."
o Honor.


* "Η περιέργεια είναι η αρχή της σοφίας"
o "Curiosity is the beginning of wisdom."


* "Η φτήνια τρώει τον παρά."
o "Cheapness 'eats' the (value of) money."
o Inflation/Deflation. Can also mean that when items or articles are cheap people tend to buy more than they need. Used for compulsive buyers.
o It also denotes that, if something is cheap usually does not last long, so it is wasted money.

Θ

* "Η θάλασσα τα δίνει κι η θάλασσα τα παίρνει."
o "The sea gives them and the sea takes them back."


* "Λαός 'ξαγριεμένος, φουρτουνιασμένη θάλασσα."
o "Angry mob, raging sea."


* "Παίναε τη θάλασσα, αλλά να περπατείς στην ξέρα."
o "Flatter the sea, but stand on earth when you do so."


* "Η θάλασσα 'ναι γαλανή μα ο αέρας τη μαυρίζει."
o "The sea is blue but the wind turns her black."


* "Πιστόν γη, άπιστον θάλασσα." (αρχαιοελληνικό ρητό)
o "Faithful earth, unfaithful sea." (ancient Greek saying)


* " Θα του βάλει τα δυό πόδια σ'ένα παπούτσι."
o "She will put both his feet in one shoe."
o On discipline.


* "Θύμωσε ο καλόγερος κι έκαψε τα ράσα του."
o "The monk got angry and burned his cassock."
o Anger. This is equivalent to "He cut off his nose to spite his face".


* "θέρος, τρύγος, πόλεμος." (αρχαιοελληνικό ρητό)
o "Reaping, grape - harvest , war." (ancient Greek proverb)

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Ι

* "Iσον εστίν οργή και θάλασσα και γυνή."
o "A woman and the sea are the same in anger."