As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal

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      1 Don’t snuff the light too close, or you will burn your fingers DENMARK

      2 The world is dark an inch ahead JAPAN

      3 The higher the castle the nearer to the lightning RUSSIA

      4 Eve is nearer to us than Adam SERBIA

      5 In chess the fools are nearest the kings FRANCE

      6 Far waters cannot quench near fires CHINA

      7 Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense CHINA

      8 Don’t hold the dime so near your eye that you can’t see the dollar USA

      9 Pretty near ain’t quite USA

      10 The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat ENGLAND

      11 A quarrel in a neighbouring house is refreshing INDIA

      12 They that get the next best are not ill off SCOTLAND

      13 Cleanliness is next to godliness ENGLAND

      14 People scratch where they can reach KENYA

      15 A fly before one’s own eye is bigger than an elephant in the next field CHINA

      16 Sweetest the grass next to the ground WALES

      1 Among the ten fingers there are long and short CHINA

      2 A long beard does not prevent a house going to bed hungry CAMEROON

      3 Every little bird has a long beak NAMIBIA

      4 Between two points one cannot draw more than one straight line DENMARK

      5 There is bound to be a knot in a very long string KENYA

      6 The longer the spoke, the greater the tire USA

      7 However long the procession, it always returns to the church PHILIPPINES

      8 A rich person’s sickness and a poor person’s pancake are smelt a long way off BELGIUM

      9 There is no light burden on a long road CHINA

      10 One must measure to know which is longer KOREA

      11 If the string is long the kite will fly high CHINA

      12 Stretch your legs according to the length of your bedspread LIBYA

      13 Short hair is soon brushed GERMANY

      14 Long hair – short brains MONTENEGRO

      1 ‘Virtue in the middle,’ said the devil as he sat between two lawyers NORWAY

      2 In the middle of the river do not change horses PERU

      3 From the midst of the wood the hatchet gets its handle GERMANY

      4 When the bed is small lie in the centre SPAIN

      5 No needle is sharp at both ends CHINA

      6 Give to no one the end of the thread TURKEY

      7 If a string has one end, then it has another end CHINA

      8 When you pick up a stick at one end, you also pick up the other end USA

      9 Don’t burn your candle at both ends ENGLAND

      10 You can’t expect both ends of a sugar cane to be as sweet CHINA

      1 Wider will the cow-dung be for trampling on it WALES

      2 Although the river is broad there are times when boats collide CHINA

      3 Not even Apollo keeps his bow always at full stretch LATIN

      4 Thin ice and thick ice look the same from a distance USA

      5 The autumn chill is the first thing felt by a thin person CHINA

      6 Tangled hair needs a wide comb SERBIA

      7 God gives the wideness of the mouth according to the bigness of the spoon POLAND

      8 The cow which has the loudest bellowing has the slenderest tail IRELAND

      9 The thinnest bread finds itself married to bread ALGERIA

      10 Only thin dogs become wild MADAGASCAR

      1 Abundance will make cotton pull a stone NIGERIA

      2 Even a hair has a shadow CZECH REPUBLIC

      3 Even in the freshest of milk you will still find hairs MALI

      4 The third strand makes the cable NETHERLANDS

      5 Give to no one the end of the thread TURKEY

      6 A hot needle burns the thread CÔTE D’IVOIRE

      7 A cloth is not woven from a single thread CHINA9 SUCCINCTNESSThe succinctness of a proverb derives from a number of features – length of sentence, length of word, and structural balance.Proverbs are typically short: the average number of words per proverb in this collection is 8.7. There are several of just four words:Still waters run deep.Waste not, want not.And sometimes fewer:Pigs might fly.Money talks.Most English proverbs contain four main units of sense – a trend which is also found in the translated items:There’s many a slip between cup and lip.Speech is silver; silence is golden.A stitch in time saves nine.A rolling stone gathers no moss.What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts.That miller is honest who has hair on his teeth.There is a heavy reliance on monosyllabic words:If the shoe fits, wear it.A black hen can lay a white egg.Those who bring good news knock hard.Words of two or three syllables are common enough, but it is very unusual to find longer words:Procrastination is the thief of time.Familiarity breeds contempt.Longer proverbs usually break down into a series of short components with parallel structure:If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want a hundred years of prosperity, grow people.The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is now.

      8 The first thread is not part of the yarn IRELAND

      9 Where the needle goes the thread must follow POLAND

      10 One thread for the needle, one love for the heart SUDAN

      11 A needle cannot hold two threads or a mind two thoughts ETHIOPIA

      1 Ambition and fleas jump high GERMANY

      2 If СКАЧАТЬ