Persian Proverbs (Part 2)
"آدم زنده، زندگي مي‌خواد."
Literal Translation: A living person needs a life.
Connotation: Human beings need meaningful lives.
English Equivalent: Remember to live before you die.
"آدم زنده وکيل وصي نمي‌خواد"
Literal Translation: A living man doesn't need an heir or an executor.
Connotation: He who is alive and well needs no proxies to speak and act for him.
English Equivalent: Eat drink and make merry, for tomorrow you might die
"آدم گدا، اينهمه ادا؟"
Literal Translation: So down-and-out, so high-and-mighty!
Connotation: For someone who has very little to offer, he makes a great deal of demands.
English Equivalent: Beggars can't be choosers. Lying in the gutter, looking at the stars.
"آدم ناشي، سرنا را از سر گشادش ميزنه"
Literal Translation: A bungler blows into Sorna's bell.
Connotation: An incompetent person does not know how to go about doing a task (he blows into trumpet's bell instead of its mouthpiece).
English Equivalent: He doesn't know which end is up.
"آرد خودمونو ريختيم، الک مونو آويختيم"
Literal Translation: We sifted our flour and hung up our sifter.
Connotation: I took care of my own business.
"آرزو بر جوانان عيب نيست"
Literal Translation: Aspiration is not a defect for youngsters.
Connotation: It's ok for youths to be dreamers.
"آستين نو پلو بخور"
Literal Translation: O New Sleeve, eat pilau!
Connotation: People admire and value your trappings and outer personalities instead of your inner self.
English Equivalent: Don't judge a book by its cover
"آسوده کسي که خر نداره --- از کاه و جوش خبر نداره"
Literal Translation: Comfortable is he who doesn't have a donkey -- He who doesn't know of its straw and barley.
Connotation: Lucky are those who don't have too many responsibilities.
"آسه برو آسه بيا که گربه شاخت نزنه"
Literal Translation: Go slowly, come slowly, lest the cat should gore you.
Connotation: Do your work quietly, so that you won't get in trouble. Keep a low profile.
English Equivalent: Don't rock the boat. Don't make waves.
"آشپز که دوتا شد، آش يا شوره يا بي‌نمک"
Literal Translation: Between two cooks, the soup becomes either salty or bland.
Connotation: Too many decision-makers may doom the outcome.
English Equivalent: Too many cooks spoil the broth.
"آش نخورده و دهن سوخته"
Literal Translation: Uneaten soup and burned mouth.
Connotation: Applied in situations where one gets in trouble for an action one hasn't committed.
"آفتابه خرج لحيمه"
Literal Translation: The ewer is cheaper than its solder.
Connotation: It's less costly to dispose of an item than to repair it.
English Equivalent: It's no use throwing good money after bad.
"آفتابه لگن هفت دست،اما شام و ناهار هيچي"
Literal Translation: Seven sets of ewers and washbowls, but no dinner or lunch.
Connotation: Applied when there's a lot of side-preparation/advertisement for an event without any important event.
English Equivalent: All fur coat and no knickers
"آفتابه و لولهنگ هر دو يک کار مي‌کنند، اما قيمتشان موقع گرو گذاشتن معلوم مي‌شه"
Literal Translation: A ewer and a hose do the same thing, but their real values show when they are pawned.
Connotation: Goods have value only to those who desire them.
English Equivalent: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
"آمدم ثواب کنم، کباب شدم."
Literal Translation: I attempted to be benevolent, but I got burnt.
Connotation: I was trying to help out, but I got in trouble myself.
English Equivalent: No good deed goes unpunished.
"آنانکه غني‌ترند، محتاج‌ترند"
Literal Translation: The richer they are, the needier they are.
Connotation: The rich are subjugated by their greed for more riches.
English Equivalent: Mo' Money, Mo' Problems.
"آنچه دلم خواست نه آن شد --- آنچه خدا خواست همان شد"
Literal Translation: What I wished for happened not -- What God willed happened to a dot.
Connotation: Events are governed by the will of God, not the whims of men.
English Equivalent: We are not in charge of our own destiny.
"آنرا که حساب پاکه، از محاسبه چه باکه؟"
Literal Translation: He who is honest at finance, what fear of audit will he have?
Connotation: One who's innocent is not afraid of investigation.
English Equivalent: The honest don't need to lie.
"آنقدر بايست، تا علف زير پات سبز بشه"
Literal Translation: Stand so long until grass grows under your foot.
Connotation: You can wait as much as you want, but it's useless.
English Equivalent: You can stay here until the cows come home.
"آنقدر سمن هست، که ياسمن توش گمه"
Literal Translation: Amongst the genus of Jasminum, a single jasmine does not stand out.
English Equivalent: We are all unique
Source: wikiquote.org
Other Links:
Bosnian Proverbs
Belgian Proverbs
Bulgarian Proverbs
