“Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience.” ~Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605~
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See if you can fill in the blanks.
1. “One, one coco ____ basket” (Do not expect to achieve success overnight).
2. “Every mikkle ____ a mukkle” (Every little bit counts).
3. “Wat doan ____, will fatten” (Do not waste time worrying over something that does you no real harm. You may even be able to turn it around into something positive).
4. “Chicken merry, _____ dah near” (Be vigilant as danger can be found in unexpected places).
5. “Every dawg has his day and every puss his ___ o’clock” and cock mouth ____ cock. (Do not act as if you are better than others, your day will come).
6. “Wanti, wanti, cyan getti, getti, getti nuh _____” Also “silent rivah run deep” and “No mug no bruk, no coffee nuh dash wey” (Count your blessings and do not take what you have for granted).
7. “Sorry fi mawga dog, mawga dog wi tun round and ____ you” (Sometimes it is those whom we help who are the least grateful).
8. “Duppy know ___ fi frighten” (Bullies know to pick on those least able to defend themselves).
9. “See mi a one thing, come lib with me ________” (To see me is one thing, to live with me, another or as in another popular saying, do not judge a book by its cover).
10. “De olda de clock, de ______ it wine” (The older a person is, the wiser).
11. “When coco ripe, it mus ____” (Actions speak louder than words).
12. “Hog say, ‘de first dutty water mi ______, mi wash’.” (Seize opportunities as they present themselves).
13. “One eye man king in ______ man country”. (No matter how bad it seems things may be, there is always another for whom things are worse).
14. “Fool-fool pickney mek fowl _____ away from him two time” (Never allow yourself to be fooled the same way more than once).
15. “Nuh fatten cockroach fi _____” (Do not waste time doing things for which others will be ungrateful).
16. “Saltfish sit down pon di _______ a wait fi bread and butter” (Lazy people wait for life’s blessings to come to them).
17. “Mi old, but mi nuh _____” (Do not underestimate the value of the elderly).
18. “Disobedient pickney _____ rockstone” (Disobedient children will come to a bad end).
19. “Dawg say if him have money him would buy him own ______” (Some people, when they wind up with money, will waste it in unnecessary things).
20. “Talk and ______ your tongue” (Think before you speak).
ANSWERS:
1. full. 2. mek. 3. kill. 4. hawk. 5. four
6. wanti. 7. bite. 8. who. 9. another. 10. faster.
11. bus 12. ketch 13. blind 14. get 15. fowl.
16. counter. 17. cold. 18. nyam. 19. fleas. 20. taste.
EDITOR’S NOTES:
More on Jamaican proverbs at THIS LINK!
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