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foreign proverbs and expressions


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I'm American, but almost all of my ancesters are South African, so why not use Afrikaans proverbs?

Note: I don't speak Afrikaans. I looked theses up on Google.

Die doodskleed het geen sakke nie meaning

He who dies cannot take any property with him to the afterlife

Wie nie waag nie, wen nie

He who doesn't take risks, doesn't win

n Mak hond buit die seerste

A tame dog's bite hurts the most

Now for some strange ones...

Al dra 'n bobbejaan 'n goue ring, bly hy nog 'n lelike ding

Even if a baboon wears a golden ring, it remains an ugly

thing.

Agteros kom ook in die kraal.

The ox that walks behind also gets into the kraal(a pen for

livestock)

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Die doodskleed het geen sakke nie meaning

He who dies cannot take any property with him to the afterlife

This doesn't feel like a proverb to me. It seems to basically say what it, well, says.

Wie nie waag nie, wen nie

He who doesn't take risks, doesn't win

If you don't take risks, you'll never gain anything

n Mak hond buit die seerste

A tame dog's bite hurts the most

Betrayal is worse than something you expect.

Now for some strange ones...

Al dra 'n bobbejaan 'n goue ring, bly hy nog 'n lelike ding

Even if a baboon wears a golden ring, it remains an ugly

thing.

You can't polish a turd kind of thing? Even though you CAN polish poop...

Agteros kom ook in die kraal.

The ox that walks behind also gets into the kraal(a pen for

livestock)

Don't blindly follow others or you'll get trapped by them?

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Agteros kom ook in die kraal.

The ox that walks behind also gets into the kraal(a pen for

livestock)

Don't blindly follow others or you'll get trapped by them?

I read it more as "Following cannot excuse responsibility."

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I'm American, but almost all of my ancesters are South African, so why not use Afrikaans proverbs?

Note: I don't speak Afrikaans. I looked theses up on Google.

Die doodskleed het geen sakke nie meaning

He who dies cannot take any property with him to the afterlife

Wie nie waag nie, wen nie

He who doesn't take risks, doesn't win

n Mak hond buit die seerste

A tame dog's bite hurts the most

Now for some strange ones...

Al dra 'n bobbejaan 'n goue ring, bly hy nog 'n lelike ding

Even if a baboon wears a golden ring, it remains an ugly

thing.

Agteros kom ook in die kraal.

The ox that walks behind also gets into the kraal(a pen for

livestock)

would it be cheating for me to answer some of these? this language looks a lot like Dutch!

like how these two look alike:

Afrikaans: Wie nie waag nie, wen nie

Dutch: Wie niet waagt, wie niet wint

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would it be cheating for me to answer some of these? this language looks a lot like Dutch!

like how these two look alike:

Afrikaans: Wie nie waag nie, wen nie

Dutch: Wie niet waagt, wie niet wint

Afrikaans is a blend of Dutch/Latin. So I guess it is "cheating"

All of these are correct except the Ox one. I don't really understand it, but it means that a follower will one day, get his turn to lead.

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All of these are correct except the Ox one. I don't really understand it, but it means that a follower will one day, get his turn to lead.

Oh, okay.

:blink:

Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

I was really surprised when I learned that Afrikaans was based on Dutch. Before I had seen any of it, I assumed Afrikaans was some native African language.

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I wouldn't have guessed the ox one; it makes sense, but if I didn't know which was correct and the real answer was put alongside Celice's I'd have guessed Celice's to be correct.

Here are a few more:

Elda grátt silfr. = Light (the verb: light by fire) grey silver.

Vera snemma á fótum = To be early afoot.

腹が立つ。 = Stomach rises. (Not in general...)

レッテルを貼る。 = To attach a sticker.

膝が笑う。 = Knees laugh. (Not in general)

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