Proverbs 2: women, birds, and theft
  • Max2013 October 2011
    So, here is a second truckload of wisdom from the Boot and its centuries of war, diseases, riots, revolutions, etc etc. 

    As I said in the previous proverbs post, if you have some spare time, try to lean a few of these proverbs: if you quote them to an Italian you will sound cool and wise -- Italians tend to use proverbs a lot.

    A ciascuno il suo.
    To each his own.

    A mali estremi, estremi rimedi.
    Desperate times call for desperate measures.

    Bacco, tabacco e Venere riducono l'uomo in cenere.
    Literal translation: Baccus [i.e. wine], Venus [i.e. women], and tobacco reduce a man to ashes.

    A ogni uccello il suo nido è bello.
    There's no place like home.
    Literal translation: To every bird, his own nest is beautiful.

    Ambasciatore non porta pena.
    Don't shoot the messenger.

    A rubar poco si va in galera, a rubar tanto si fa carriera.
    Literal translation: Steal a little, go to jail; steal a lot, make a career of it.
    [Sounds familiar?] 

    Meglio l'uovo oggi che la gallina domani.
    A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
    Literal translation: better an egg today than a hen tomorrow. 
    [This is the very basic of interest rates -- i.e. the cost of money]
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