As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal

thinnest bread finds itself married to bread ALGERIA

      10 Straps come from the same leather ARGENTINA

      11 A gummed thing soon ungums JAPAN

      12 When walking through your neighbour’s melon-patch, don’t tie your shoe CHINA

      13 Too much tying loosens SYRIA

      14 The string of our sack of patience is generally tied with a slip knot JAPAN

      15 One hand can’t tie a bundle LIBERIA

      16 You cannot tie up another’s wound while your own is still bleeding ESTONIA

      17 Everyone buckles their belt their own way SCOTLAND

      18 One missing button strikes the eye more than one missing day ESTONIA

      19 Coupled sheep drown each other NETHERLANDS

      20 A feather does not stick without gum AFGHANISTAN

      21 Sweat makes good mortar GERMANY

      22 A stitch in time saves nine ENGLAND

      23 Kick an attorney downstairs and he’ll stick to you for life SCOTLAND

      24 There is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers ENGLAND

      25 The postage stamp’s usefulness lies in the ability to stick USA

      26 Let the cobbler stick to his last ENGLAND

19 SEPARATING

      1 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY

      2 United we stand; divided we fall USA

      3 The tighter the string, the sooner it will break WALES

      4 The one on whose head we would break a coconut never stands still NIGERIA

      5 Courteous asking breaks even city walls UKRAINE

      6 Luck and glass soon break GERMANY

      7 When you give a child a nut, give it also something to break it with GEORGIA

      8 You do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the ice breaks ICELAND

      9 Fortune is glass; just when it is bright it is broken LATIN

      10 Carrying-poles which bend easily do not break CHINA

      11 Every plate that is made breaks AFGHANISTAN

      12 If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail? RWANDA AND BURUNDI

      13 A broken glass can’t be hurt ENGLAND

      14 All’s lost that’s put in a broken dish SCOTLAND

      15 One broken rail will wreck a train USA

      16 Where the drum is burst is the place to mend it REPUBLIC OF CONGO

      17 A basket with its bottom burst is useless NIGERIA

      18 What is inflated too much will burst into fragments ETHIOPIA

      19 In the choicest vase are found the ugliest cracks CHINA

      20 If you pick the fluff from a blanket it comes to pieces INDIA

      21 Flies never visit an egg that has no crack CHINA

      22 Cut bread cannot be put together again LATVIA

      23 It is easy to steal from a cut loaf ENGLAND

      24 Those who cannot cut the bread evenly cannot get on well with people CZECH REPUBLIC

      25 Dull scissors can’t cut straight USA

      26 Measure twice, cut once SLOVAKIA

      27 The axe forgets, but the cut log does not ZIMBABWE

      28 Those who cut their own firewood have it warm them twice USA

      29 There is always something to be cut off young trees if they are to grow well GERMANY

      30 Everyone must skin their own skunk USA

      31 You cannot take one part of a fowl for cooking and leave the other part to lay eggs INDIA

      32 A fool and his money are soon parted ENGLAND

      33 The end of separation is meeting again TURKEY

      34 One loose pebble can start a landslide USA

      35 A smooth way makes the foot slip ESTONIA

      36 Don’t look where you fell, but where you slipped LIBERIA

      37 When a single hair has fallen from your head, you are not yet bald SIERRA LEONE

      38 An egg on bread is slippery SCOTLAND

      39 No matter how you slice it, it’s still baloney USA

20 CHAIN – ROPE – STRING

      1 Hit one ring and the whole chain will resound SOUTH AFRICA

      2 A chain is as strong as its weakest link ENGLAND

      3 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY

      4 Pull gently at a weak rope NETHERLANDS

      5 An ox is bound with ropes and a person with words ITALY

      6 Men hold the buffalo by its rope, a ruler by his word INDONESIA

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

      8 The string of our sack of patience is generally tied with a slip knot JAPAN

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

      10 The tighter the string, the sooner it will break WALES

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

21 WHOLE – PART

      1 One rotten egg spoils the whole pudding GERMANY

      2 One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel ENGLAND

      3 One spot spots the whole dress BELGIUM

      4 Those who seek the entrance should also think of the exit GERMANY

      5 When luck offers a finger one must take the whole hand SWEDEN

      6 Who does not understand half a word will not be wiser for a whole word FINLAND

      7 Every art requires the whole person FRANCE

      8 One link broken, the whole chain is broken GERMANY

      9 One needn’t devour the whole chicken to know the flavour of the bird CHINA

      10 Hit one ring and the whole chain will resound SOUTH AFRICA

      11 Better lose the anchor than the whole ship NETHERLANDS

      12 It is better to be entirely without a book than to believe it entirely CHINA

      13 One bad pipe ruins the entire organ NETHERLANDS

      14 You cannot take one part of a fowl for cooking and leave the other part to lay eggs INDIA

      15 The first thread is not part of the yarn IRELAND

      16 Discretion is the better part of valour ENGLAND

      17 To get out a rusty nail you must take away a piece of the wall MALTA

      18 What is inflated too much will burst into fragments ETHIOPIA

      19 The town that parleys is half surrendered FRANCE

      20 The story is only half told when one side tells it ICELAND

      21 Chop, and you will have splinters DENMARK

      22 For the diligent, a week has seven days; for the slothful, seven tomorrows GERMANY

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

22 FULL – ENTIRE

      1 A coconut shell full of water is a sea to an ant ZANZIBAR

      2 The hollow of the ear is never full SENEGAL

      3 Full