Proverbs from all Corsican speaking parts of the world.

B

  • Bisogna fa di forza legge.
    • Idiomatic translation: Make a virtue out of necessity.
    • Meaning: Acquiesce in doing something unpleasant with a show of grace because one must do it in any case.
    • Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs (Volume 2 ed.). Routledge. p. 1079. ISBN 0415096243. 
  • Bole piglia l'anguilla pe a coda.
    • Idiomatic translation: You might as well try to hold an eel by the tail.
    • "He that does not speak Truth to me, does not believe me when I speak Truth."
    • Thomas Fuller, Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727)
    • Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs (Volume 2 ed.). Routledge. p. 480. ISBN 0415096243. 

D

  • Duve si ha de beie un ci si sputa.
    • English equivalent: Don't spit where you need to drink.
    • Refers to someone who causes trouble in their immediate surroundings.
    • Dale Carnegie, How To Win Friends And Influence People (1934)
    • Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs (Volume 2 ed.). Routledge. p. 634. ISBN 0415096243. 

E

  • È chiucu ancu a pevaru.
    • Idiomatic translation: A bad bush is better than no shelter; Every hair casts its shadow; There is no little enemy.
    • Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs (Volume 2 ed.). Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 0415096243. 
  • È meglio solo che mal compagnadi.
    • Translation: It is better to be alone than to be in bad company.
    • English equivalent: Better be alone than in bad company.
    • Source for proverb: Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs (Volume 2 ed.). Routledge. p. 572. ISBN 0415096243. 

F

  • Forse un diaule caccia il altru.
    • English equivalent: One nail drives out another.
    • "As one nail drives out another,
      So the remembrance of my former love
      Is by a newer object quite forgotten."
    • William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (1592)
    • Emanuel Strauss (1994). Dictionary of European Proverbs. Taylor & Francis. pp. 648–. ISBN 978-0-415-10381-7. 

Q

  • Quandu t'è prumess u purcellu, legalu en u muscellu.
    • Translation: Seize the offer.
    • English equivalent: When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke.
    • "I knew that what I had felt was envy or regret, not for something lost but for something never achieved."
    • P. D. James, Dr. Theodore Faron character in The Children of Men (1992)
    • Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs (Volume 2 ed.). Routledge. p. 1226. ISBN 0415096243. 

See also

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