As They Say In Zanzibar. David Crystal

they’re hatched ENGLAND

      11 A skunk smells its own hole first USA

      12 You have to learn to crawl before you can walk ENGLAND

      13 Fingers were made before forks ENGLAND

      14 Even the moon does not shine before it rises FINLAND

      15 Those who have free seats at a play hiss first CHINA

      16 The darkest hour is just before the dawn ENGLAND

      17 The one who strikes first, strikes twice BELGIUM

      18 Don’t take the antidote before the poison LATIN

      19 Don’t shout before the birch-rod falls LATVIA

      20 Look before you leap ENGLAND

      21 Before marrying live wildly for three years POLAND

      22 Before going to war say one prayer; before going to sea, two; before getting married, three POLAND

      23 All things are difficult before they are easy SPAIN

      24 Pride goes before a fall ENGLAND

      25 You have no wisdom if you go to sleep before you make your bed UGANDA

      26 First lay the egg, then cackle ESTONIA

      27 That which you would say to another, say to yourself first ESTONIA

      28 People are not trodden on unless they lie down first GERMANY

      29 The first in the boat has the choice of oars ENGLAND

      30 Warm a frozen serpent, and it will sting you first ARMENIA

      31 Sweep off your own back porch first USA

      32 Those who sing worst, let them begin first ENGLAND

41 AFTERWARDS

      1 What’s the good of a spoon after the meal is over? LATVIA

      2 It ain’t over till the fat lady sings USA

      3 The game’s not over until the last man strikes out USA

      4 If they do not open after three knocks, do not wait POLAND

      5 The greatest love is mother-love; after that comes a dog’s love; and after that the love of a sweetheart POLAND

      6 Why feed a bullock after it is sold? INDIA

      7 It’s no good locking the stable door after the horse is stolen ENGLAND

      8 If power can be bought, then sell your mother to get it; you can always buy her back later GHANA

      9 Don’t quote your proverb until you bring your ship to port SCOTLAND

      10 Sell not your bearskin until you have the bear USA

      11 Don’t cross a bridge until you come to it ENGLAND5 PRESENT TENSEProverbs, being the expression of general truths, are usually in the present tense. But occasionally we find them looking backwards and forwards in time.Past timeA barren sow was never good to pigs.Because we concentrated on the snake, we missed the scorpion.A big nose never spoiled a handsome face.Bacchus has drowned more people than Neptune.Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away.I gave an order to a cat, and the cat gave it to its tail.Future timeGo abroad and you’ll hear news of home.An old cat will not learn how to dance.A dog in desperation will leap over a wall.A red-nosed man may not be a drinker, but he will find nobody to believe it.Two barrels of tears will not heal a bruise.If we knew where we would fall, we would spread straw there first.

      12 Don’t quit until the hearse comes round USA

      13 When the face is washed, you finish at the chin NIGERIA

42 PAST – PRESENT – FUTURE

      1 No one can call again yesterday ENGLAND

      2 No one thinks of the snow that fell last year SWEDEN

      3 It is in vain to look for yesterday’s fish in the house of the otter INDIA

      4 The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is now CHINA

      5 A dog last year is a dog this year SERBIA

      6 There’s no time like the present ENGLAND

      7 Water will run where it ran before BULGARIA

      8 Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow USA

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

      10 If you want to be acquainted with the past and the present, you must read five cartloads of books CHINA

      11 Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today ENGLAND

      12 Here today and gone tomorrow ENGLAND

      13 Speak, lest tomorrow you be prevented KENYA

      14 Tomorrow blows the wind of tomorrow JAPAN

      15 Tomorrow never comes ENGLAND

      16 Today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday USA

43 SOONER OR LATER

      1 A whitewashed crow soon shows black again CHINA

      2 Short hair is soon brushed GERMANY

      3 Longest at the fire soonest finds cold SCOTLAND

      4 They that think no ill are soonest beguiled ENGLAND

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

      6 Nothing dries sooner than a tear LATIN

      7 Little kettles soon boil over ESTONIA

      8 Honest men marry soon; wise men never ENGLAND

      9 Luck and glass soon break GERMANY

      10 The fuller the cup, the sooner the spill CHINA

      11 A gummed thing soon ungums JAPAN

      12 A fool and his money are soon parted ENGLAND

      13 Punctuality is the politeness of princes FRANCE

      14 If you wish to be angry, pay for something in advance MONTENEGRO

      15 That which is to become a good nettle must sting early SWEDEN

      16 Least said, soonest mended ENGLAND

      17 Clumsy birds need early flight CHINA

      18 If your neighbour is an early riser, you will become one ALBANIA

      19 It is not economical to go to bed early to save the candles if the result is twins CHINA

      20 The early bird catches the worm ENGLAND

      21 Strawberries ripen sooner in a low wood than in a high one ESTONIA

      22 Sooner begun, sooner done ENGLAND

      23 It cannot be later than midnight MYANMAR

      24 The later in the evening, the nicer the people NETHERLANDS

      25 Those who are in a hurry are always late GEORGIA

      26 Those who come too late find the platter turned over NETHERLANDS

      27 Better late than never ENGLAND

44 NEWNESS

      1 New brooms sweep clean ENGLAND

      2 A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows the corners IRELAND

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

      4 Necessity teaches new arts NORWAY

      5 A debt is always new ESTONIA

      6 Beware of old streets and new inns GERMANY

      7 To read a book for the first time is to make the acquaintance of a new friend; to read it a second time is to meet an old one CHINA

      8 An old story does not open the ear as a new one does NIGERIA

      9 New