From the Philippines, mine is “Kung gusto, madaming paraan. Kung ayaw, madaming dahilan” translates to:
“If you want to, lots of ways. If you don’t, lots of reasons.”
Good proverb, Marci. Is that Tagalog language?
A good French one is:
N’accuse pas le puits d’être trop profond , c’est ta corde qui est trop courte.
Don’t blame your well for being too deep, it’s your rope that is too short.
A good Spanish one is:
No entran una boca cerrada las moscas.
Flies don’t enter an open mouth
I don’t know if this is from “my place”, but in the shop culture in which I’ve worked in Sou Cal we liked to say, “There’s never time to do it right, but there’s always time to do it twice…”
Similarly: “I need this soon, so don’t rush.”
mmm
You can always cut it shorter, but…
To offerers of un-needed advice or assistance: “Hey, I’m fuckin’ this monkey - you’re just holdin’ the tail”. (Not recommended for use with wife or girlfriend)
people in Michigan love to say “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” 'course, that’s not exclusive to Michigan.
The other thing we say is “Fuck Ohio.”
Ah, I remember a sign I saw posted years long ago in an auto repair shop:
Helen Waitte handles all our credit accounts. If you want credit, go to Helen Waitte.
Um, closed mouth?
One of my granpap’s, whenever someone was about to leave to drive somewhere: “Watch out for the other guy.”.
I wonder if this saying (American?) can be traced: “You can’t cheat an honest man.”
There’s a line which instantly identifies someone as being from Pamplona or having lived there: la primera, conocerás al personal. The first (rule), know thy people. First rule of what? Of doing stuff with people; that is, of living anywhere other than a mountaintop.
Another one which is very much Northern Spain (from Aragon to Old Castille, both included): hablemos con propiedad. Let’s use language properly; let’s say exactly what we mean; let’s avoid ambiguity and misuses. Generally said right after someone butchers a word.
And one which is more general: cree el ladrón que todos son de su condición. A thief believes that everybody is out to steal. IOW, if you meet someone who doesn’t trust people - don’t trust him!
En boca cerrada no entran moscas. The meaning is “don’t talk too much”.
Although there is debate (and at least one thread here) about its origins ------- not my monkey, not my circus.
Fuhgeddaboutit - for the New York area where I live.
Dude! - for California where I grew up.
Huh. I thought “Fuck Ohio” was strictly a Pennsylvania thing.
Well I grew up in Northern New England USA, but not sure if this is from my father or the area. “Buying cheap costs you more in the long run”
My mom would sometimes say, “Keep it between the lines.”
One of my dad’s, that I now use at every opportunity: “If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass.”
Is everyone familiar with “Shit/spit on one hand, wish in the other, see which fills up faster?”
Then there is the traditional saying “Do not urinate on Judith Sheindlin’s leg and assert that it is raining.”
One of my favorite Israeli sayings is:
“They say your sister’s a whore - now go prove you don’t have a sister.”
(It’s about the difficulty of proving a negative, especially when it comes to baseless accusations. The first half of the saying is often omitted).
My favorite saying from my radical feminist lesbian sister:
Two women working together can do anything. Three women working together will do the impossible.
I’ve yet to find a woman who doesn’t agree with that idea.