# Proverbs meaning the opposite in English or other languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 7, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027 "2025-02-07T21:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/41 "2025-02-10T15:48:15Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Many hands make light work, but too many cooks spoil the broth. Sounds like the combination of the two matches the somewhat less-than-PC “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” Hm. I wonder how one says that today… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/42 "2025-02-10T16:00:04Z")
Opposites in terms of scale: A penny saved is a penny earned. A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money. (Sort of like something Everett Dirksen reputedly said.) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/43 "2025-02-10T16:07:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > That was specifically directed to Treppenwitz. (Treppenwitz means staircase wit.) I’m embarrassed to admit that I was comprehensively whooshed. j ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/44 "2025-02-10T16:11:59Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I’m embarrassed to admit that I was comprehensively whooshed. If it’s any consolation, me too, although I knew what Treppenwitz means. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/45 "2025-02-10T16:17:30Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Opposites in terms of scale: > > A penny saved is a penny earned. Or “Penny-wise, pound-foolish” Or there’s the reciprocal insult of “Taking French leave/Filer à l’anglaise” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/46 "2025-02-10T16:18:37Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Sounds like the combination of the two matches the somewhat less-than-PC “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” > Hm. I wonder how one says that today… From Gilbert & Sullivan’s _The Gondoliers_: “When everyone is somebody, then no one’s anybody.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/47 "2025-02-15T15:19:29Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > > [@Ponch8](#): > > > > Many hands make light work, but too many cooks spoil the broth. > > Sounds like the combination of the two matches the somewhat less-than-PC “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” > Hm. I wonder how one says that today… Even though two heads are better than one, it’s tricky to scale up from there: two is company but three is a crowd; but, hey, the more, the merrier… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/48 "2025-02-15T15:42:15Z")
“The early bird gets the worm”. But… “The second mouse gets the cheese” (from a mouse trap). ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/49 "2025-02-15T19:22:01Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Blood is thicker than water (meaning that family is the most important thing) > and > You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family Originally, the “blood” in the first meant the the blood shed when you and your friends were fellow soldiers, and the “water” in that meant your family. So, they originally meant about the same, but the first got inverted ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/50 "2025-02-15T22:50:06Z")
Knowledge is power. But Ignorance is bliss. (If they’re mutually exclusive). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/51 "2025-02-15T22:52:49Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Knowledge is power. But if time is money — and money is power — then money is knowledge, and knowledge is time? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/52 "2025-02-15T22:57:12Z")
Power = work/time ➡ Knowledge = work/money ➡ Money = work/knowledge ➡ The more you know, the less you earn. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027/53 "2025-02-15T23:26:01Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Or there’s the reciprocal insult of “Taking French leave/Filer à l’anglaise” And a nicer version: French seam/couture Anglaise Don’t think anyone has posted this one yet: Great minds think alike, though fools seldom differ. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proverbs-meaning-the-opposite-in-english-or-other-languages/1014027.md?page=2)