# Proverbio/Motto



## sniper038

I'm doing my homework, looking for the italian proverbs or mottos on the
internet, but haven't yet manage to find them. Could somebody provide
me with some proverbs or motto in any kinds, like politic, religion, and so on
which are not composed of any verb but just nouns? And please give me
some definition, too. 

Here are examples that teacher gave to me ; 
Nulla nuova, buona nuova.
Ospito raro, ospito caro.
Grassa cucina, poverta' vicina.

Grazie Tante dalla Tailandia!!


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## AlxGrim

. A mali estremi, estremi rimedi 
Sounds like "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going"

. Occhio per occhio, dente per dente
A hymn to revenge!

. Aprile, ogni goccia un barile
Highlights the importance of the rain in April: the more, the better for the wine

. A nemico che fugge, ponti d'oro
If someone you don't like is going away, do all you can to help him!

. Maggio ortolano, tanta paglia e poco grano
This should mean that too much rain in May is not good for wheat

. Poca brigata, vita beata
My favorite: less people, less confusion!


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## sniper038

It's much appreciated! You saved my life


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## stephenwallis

Take a look at Wikiquote's Proverbi italiani. Or it's Italian proverbs.


			
				sniper038 said:
			
		

> Nulla nuova, buona nuova.
> Ospite raro, ospite caro.
> A grassa cucina poverta' vicina.


I'd be interested in the what these translate into in English, and whether there are corresponding English proverbs...

Nulla nuova, buona nuova -- Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Ospite raro, ospite caro -- An unusual (?) guest is an expensive (?) guest
A grassa cucina, povertà vicina -- A greasy stove is near to poverty


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## Silvia

Your examples are wrong:
Nessuna nuova, buona nuova.
Ospite raro, ospite caro. (never heard)
Grassa cucina, povertà vicina (never heard)

A buon intenditor poche parole
Gioco di mano, gioco di villano
Scarpe grosse, cervello fino
Altezza, mezza bellezza


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## sniper038

My bad. I've only searched in Wikipedia, not in WikiQuote.
Don't know WikiQuote exists!

Thanks for translation!


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## stephenwallis

AlxGrim said:
			
		

> Poca brigata, vita beata
> My favorite: *fewer* people, less confusion!


Alex, I hope you don't mind my correction... And for those who don't know why, it's because you can count "people" (and you can't count "confusion")


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## sniper038

@Silvia, I just copied from my teacher's examples.
It's great you corrected them.  Thanks!


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## Silvia

stephenwallis said:
			
		

> I'd be interested in the what these translate into in English, and whether there are corresponding English proverbs...
> 
> Nulla nuova, buona nuova -- Nothing ventured, nothing gained
> Ospite raro, ospite caro -- An unusual guest is an expensive guest
> Grassa cucina, povertà vicina -- A greasy stove is near to poverty


No.

1. No news, good news
2. rare guest, dear guest (if you are a guest, it's best you're not too often)
3. Rich cooking, poverty is near


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## AlxGrim

@stephenwallis: thank you very much, I often fall on that!


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## Silvia

Morte tua, vita mia  
Sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata


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## stephenwallis

Silvia said:
			
		

> No.
> 
> 1. No news, good news
> 2. rare guest, dear guest (if you are a guest, it's best you're not too often)
> 3. Rich cooking, poverty is near


Makes a lot more sense when I see them!!!   Makes me realise how much I still need to learn when trying to translate.

We'd be more likely to say:
1. No news is good news
2. A constant guest is never welcome (though this has the opposite meaning)

And for the third one I can't really get my head around the meaning... is it "expensive cooking" or "cooking rich food"?


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## Silvia

I used the adjective rich to mean fat, hearty, abundant...


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## DAH

stephenwallis said:
			
		

> Makes a lot more sense when I see them!!!  Makes me realise how much I still need to learn when trying to translate.
> 
> We'd be more likely to say:
> 1. No news is good news
> 2. A constant guest is never welcome (though this has the opposite meaning)
> 
> And for the third one I can't really get my head around the meaning... is it "expensive cooking" or "cooking rich food"?


 

3.  Eat-up, poverty is near!


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## Silvia

DAH said:
			
		

> 3.  Eat-up, poverty is near!


No, I don't think it is that.


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## stephenwallis

Silvia said:
			
		

> I used the adjective rich to mean fat, hearty, abundant...


And are these adjectives describing cooking or food?  My guess is that they are more likely to be applied to the food.  But I'm still confused as to what the moral of the proverb is and the context in which it will be used.


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## Silvia

Yes, you're right  It refers to the food. It means that if you have fat food you'll soon be poor. I guess it's a silly saying. Also, as I said earlier, I've never heard of it before. Maybe it was made up by the teacher just to rhyme... or as an example. I have no idea, actually.


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## You little ripper!

stephenwallis said:
			
		

> Makes a lot more sense when I see them!!!   Makes me realise how much I still need to learn when trying to translate.
> 
> We'd be more likely to say:
> 1. No news is good news
> 2. A constant guest is never welcome (though this has the opposite meaning)
> 
> And for the third one I can't really get my head around the meaning... is it "expensive cooking" or "cooking rich food"?


I would have thought that it means that someone who spends a lot of money on food is eventually going to run out of money or something to that effect.


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## Silvia

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> I would have thought that it means that someone who spends a lot of money on food is eventually going to run out of money or something to that effect.


Well... if you want to go that far...  Who knows


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## stephenwallis

Silvia said:
			
		

> Yes, you're right  It refers to the food. It means that if you have fat food you'll soon be poor. I guess it's a silly saying. Also, as I said earlier, I've never heard of it before. Maybe it was made up by the teacher just to rhyme... or as an example. I have no idea, actually.


Thanks for your description... that's as far as I was able to imagine the meaning but glad to hear it's not used that often.

Please note that "fat food" would imply that the food itself was overweight. I'm sure you mean "fattening food"  - i.e. food that makes one fat.


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## ElaineG

In an article on Italian proverbs, I found these three grouped together





> Grassa cucina (_o_ grasso piatto), magro testamento--_e_A grassa cucina, povertà vicina--_e_
> La cucina piccola fa la casa grande.
> ​




I would translate the first as "Rich [lit. "fat"] cooking, poor [lit. "skinny"] will" and the third as "A small kitchen makes a big house." The second is something like "Poverty approaches a rich/abundant kitchen."

So the sense I get from all three proverbs is that if you spend too much on making rich food (in other words, use ingredients like cream, meat, and butter that would have been expensive in the old days), you'll end up poor. But if you have a small kitchen (don't spend much on food), you'll end up with a big house.

(Guess I'll always have a small house!) 

​


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## grappa

Sposa bagnata,sposa fortunata?????? A wet bride is a lucky bride??? Non capisco


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## You little ripper!

ElaineG said:
			
		

> In an article on Italian proverbs, I found these three grouped together
> 
> I would translate the first as "Rich [lit. "fat"] cooking, poor [lit. "skinny"] will" and the third as "A small kitchen makes a big house. The second is something like "Poverty approaches a rich/abundant kitchen."
> 
> So the sense I get from all three proverbs is that if you spend too much on making rich food (in other words, use ingredients like cream, meat, and butter that would have been expensive in the old days), you'll end up poor. But if you have a small kitchen (don't spend much on food), you'll end up with a big house.
> 
> (Guess I'll always have a small house!
> ​


That's exactly what I was trying to say.  You made it a lot clearer tho'.


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## Don Zauker

grappa said:
			
		

> Sposa bagnata,sposa fortunata?????? A wet bride is a lucky bride??? Non capisco


This is an old motto of uncertain meanings.

Someone says this is a way to sweeten the pill to a bride that has to marry in a rainy day...


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## grappa

grazie don zauker


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## Silvia

Yes, nice reasoning, Elaine 

grappa, yes, wet bride, lucky bride, that means if it rains on your wedding day, it will bring good luck. I guess it's just a way of finding something positive about the rain...


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## Don Zauker

Presto e bene mai insieme = Fast and good never together

Moglie e buoi dei paesi tuoi = Choose a wife and oxen from your own country

Bello in fasce brutto in piazza = Cute as a baby, ugly as a man

Contadino, scarpe grosse e cervello fino = Farmer, rude shoes and sharp brain

Hope this help

G.

Edit: thanks to Elaine and Silvia for their corrections  .


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## Silvia

The first one has a verb in it, Don Zauker  There was another one with a verb... but it could work as an adjective too (a nemico che fugge, ponti d'oro).


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## ElaineG

> Choose a wife and oxen [] from your own country


 
Mi dispiace, *Don z.  *"Ox" is one of the few English words that becomes plural by adding "en", not "s".  (The only other I can think of is child/children).  Confusing, I know!


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## You little ripper!

"Donna al volante, pericolo costante".
It's politically incorrect but an Italian teacher I knew used to say that to me every time he saw me.  ('cos of my surname)


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## Silvia

It's donna al volante, pericolo ambulante! At least, that's what I've always heard... sadly


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## You little ripper!

Silvia said:
			
		

> It's donna al volante, pericolo ambulante! At least, that's what I've always heard... sadly


It seems that both exist. Noticed this on this website:
www.magnaromagna.it/notizie/35
*Leggende: donna al volante pericolo costante*
Nel maggio del 1809 viene data per *la prima volta la patente a una donna*: Mary Kies, negli Stati Uniti (fonte: AmericasLibrary.gov) 

Purtroppo poche ore dopo la donna provocherà un incidente. Questo l'evento storico che diede origine a questo motto.

Recenti statistiche commissionate da agenzie assicurative, dimostrerebbero pero' che al giorno d'oggi la pericolosita' della donna in campo automobilistico e' nulla piu' che una leggenda urbana, tanto che le stesse attribuirebbero un bonus ai clienti femminili, reputati piu' "affidabili" delle controparti maschili.


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## AlxGrim

That's because according to the statistics men cause more accidents than women. But statistics rely on car's OWNER, which usually is the man/husband. If they focused on car's DRIVER, I guess statistics would be different...


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## Elisa68

AlxGrim said:
			
		

> That's because according to the statistics men cause more accidents than women. But statistics rely on car's OWNER, which usually is the man/husband. If they focused on car's DRIVER, I guess statistics would be different...


No, mio caro, le statistiche fanno riferimento ai _drivers_!!! (Quando le freghi le compagnie di assicurazione!!!! )

Il mio contributo:
Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio --->The leopard cannot change its spots  Edit:   (there is a verb! )


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## Silvia

AlxGrim said:
			
		

> That's because according to the statistics men cause more accidents than women. But statistics rely on car's OWNER, which usually is the man/husband. If they focused on car's DRIVER, I guess statistics would be different...


Complete nonsense. 

Elisa, il tuo esempio non va bene perchè contiente il verbo.


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## Elisa68

Silvia said:
			
		

> Elisa, il tuo esempio non va bene perchè contiente il verbo.


Hai perfettamente ragione!

A buon intenditor poche parole --->A word to the wise  *

*


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## sniper038

Thanks, y'all.
It really helped me a lot


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