- When your comrade or friend's beard is on fire,
wet yours!
Learn
from your friend's mistakes.
- Two wrongs does not make it right.
- Shoemaker never have shoes.
A
shoemaker makes shoes for everyone else but
has no time to make for himself. Another example is that a mother who
takes care of her family but not herself. A good mother leaves herself
undone most times as her family needs comes first.
- Charity begins at home.
If
a child behaves badly at home, you cannot
expect him/her to be an angel at someone else's home. A well behaved
child at home will behave nicely at anyone's home.
- Penny fills bucket.
This
is a phrase that we use to highlight how
important it is to save, it does not matter how small it is. For
example if you save one dollar a day, by the end of the month, you
could have saved thirty dollars. By the end of the year three hundred
and sixty five dollars. Another example is my husband and I save all
our coins in a bottle. When the bottle is full, I will then collate all
the coins, put them in wrappers and take them to the bank. Sometimes I
would go to the grocery and pay for my grocery items with the coins. I
would feel a little embarassed but then I remind myself that it is
money AND many times the cashiers are very happy for the coins!
- Waste Not, Want Not!
- Time waits on no man.
- What is in the dark must come to light.
Secrets
(very very private) that are kept
eventually come out in the open (Light).
- Laugh and cry live in the same hole.
Someone
may be joking about something now and
later he or she maybe crying about that same thing they were joking
about. For example, a boy was laughing at his sister who was being
disciplined by their mother. Their mother saw him laughing at his
sister and end up disciplining him for laughing at his sister.
- Gopaul luck is not Seepaul luck.
Gopaul
and Seepaul are two names used as a
metaphor referring to two persons, who are not the same. One person
might be lucky to win the lottery, but the other person may not.
- What the eyes does not see the heart
would not grieve.
This
phrase is another way of saying what you
do not know would not hurt you. As opposed to if you know it hurts your
feelings.
- All skin teeth is no joke.
A
person can be seen smiling but sometimes it
can be just a front the person is putting on and
they can be either mad or really sad.
- Do not drink Bush medicine for someone
else's fever.
Someone
sickness can be cured by a certain
medicine, but that same medicine may not agree with another. This
phrase does not limit to medicine, it can be referred to any aspect in
life. This saying is similar to, Gopaul luck ain't Seepaul
luck.
- What sweet in goat mouth does sour in
the bam bam.
A
saying, which tells, that things can start
good and end bad.
- Like water on a duck's back.
Water
does not penetrate through a duck's back
because of its feathers and as a result, rolls off. Therefore this
phrase is used to say, that someone can say hurtful things to or about
you, but it does not affect you because you are a strong person.
- The grass always looks greener from the outside
- Life is not a bed of roses
- This is my bread and butter.
- All that glitters is not gold.
Things
may seem great at the first look, but
it really is not. For example, someone may be introduced to an easy way
of making money, which may seem inviting, but behind it all this may
not be the best road to take.
- You are always making a mountain out of a mole
hill.
- It is like looking for a needle in a
haystack.
Looking
for something as minute as a needle in
a haystack is almost impossible and hard to accomplish, hence this
phrase is used in a situation to describe the difficulty of a task.
- "True Talk No Lie".
Exaggerates
how true a story is. This phrase
can be used in two contexts, for example a person who is telling a
story would emphasize the truth of their story by using the phrase,
"True talk no Lie"(Its true, It's not a lie). It can also be used in
another context where someone is talking about, for example, a friend
and at the same time that friend arrives or calls. It's a common belief
that this event justifies that the story being told about the person is
true, because they appeared coincidentally while they are being talked
about. As a result a Trinidadian would say, "Yuh see, look her, true
talk no lie."
- Monkey know which tree to climb.
Meaning
bullies know whom to intimidate.
Ruffians take advantage and 'climb' all over those who they know they
can handle. They dare not offend the wrong person however!
- One must play dead to catch corbeaux
alive.
Meaning
you must feign ignorance if you want
to catch somebody off guard.
- When the cat is away the mice will play.
