Yorùbá proverbs – 50 exciting proverbs you may not know
- Ogún ọmọdé kì í ṣeré gba ogún ọdún.
Translations: Twenty children will not play together for twenty years.
Meaning: All relationships end sometime.)A kì í ka ilé òòṣà kún ìlú. - A kì í ka ilé òrìṣà kún ìlú
Translations: One does not count a god’s grove as part of the town.
Meaning: Do not list questionable items as part of your wealth.) - Bí a bá ní ogún ẹrú, tí a ní ìwofà ọgbọ̀n; ọmọ lèrè ẹni.
Translations: If one owns twenty slaves and thirty pawns, children are still one’s profit.
Meaning: Children are preferable to slaves or pawns. - Ọmọ aráye kì í fe ká rún ọbe láwo.
Translation: The people of this world never wish that one eats stew in a dish.
Meaning: It is rare for people to genuinely enjoy seeing others succeed - Bí a kò bá ní ohun àgbà, bí èwe là ńrí.
Translation: If one does not have the accouterments of elders, one seems a mere youth.
Meaning: An elder is not an elder without the means to be one. - Ẹnìkan kì í je ‘‘Àwá dé.’’
Translation: Nobody is entitled to say, ‘‘Here we come.’’
Meaning: However mighty, a person is still only one person. - Gbogbo oro ní ńṣojú èké.
Translation: The busybody is privy to all matters.
Meaning: There is nothing the busybody will admit he or she does not know about. - ‘‘Gbà mí, gbà mí!’’ ò yẹ eégún; ‘ẹran ń lémi bọ̀’’ ò yẹ ọdẹ.
Translation: Save me, save me!’’ does not befit a masquerade. ‘‘An animal is chasing me!’’ does not befit a hunter.
Meaning: One should act in ways that become one’s station. Compare the preceding entry. - Gbon-on-gbon-on kan ò sí, àfi ẹni tó bá ńti ara e.
Translation: There is no cause for staggering about, except for the person pushing himself or herself.
Meaning: Some people make more trouble for themselves than others can ever make for them. - A-wolú-má-tee, ìwon ara-a re ló mo.
Translation: One-who-enters-a-town-and-maintainshis- or-her-reputation does so because he or she knows his or her place.
Meaning: Self-knowledge guarantees one’s reputation.) - Bí ojú kò bá rí, ẹnu kì í sọ nnkan.
Translation: If the eye does not see, the mouth says nothing.
Meaning: The mouth can tell only what the eye sees. - Erin kì í fọn komọ-ọ re ó fọn.
Translation: An elephant’s trumpeting is never answered by its young trumpeting.
Meaning: Lowly people should not emulate illustrious ones - Bí ojú kò bá ti olè, a ti ará ilé e.
Translation: If the thief feels no shame, members of his household should.
Meaning: A person’s disgrace must concern his relatives. - Bí àgbà kò bá ṣe ohun erù, ọmọdé kì í sá.
Translation: If an elder does not do something fearful, the youth do not flee.
Meaning: Youth responds to age according to how age acts. - Bí ajá rójú ẹkùn, a pa rọ́rọ́.
Translation: When the dog sees the eyes of the leopard, it keeps very still.
Meaning: In the presence of one’s beaters, one keeps one’s place. - Ẹgbé ẹni là ń gúnyán ewùrà fún
Translation: It is for one’s peers that one makes pounded yam with water yams.
Meaning: One may take liberties only with one’s peers. - Ẹlẹ́dẹ̀ ń pàfọ̀ ó rò pé òún ń ṣoge.
Translation: The pig wallows in mud but thinks it is being a dandy.
Meaning: People who lack good judgment are never aware of their own misbehaviour. - Ẹni tí kò tó gèlètè kì í mí fìn-ìn.
Translation: A person who is not huge in stature does not breathe heavily.
Meaning: One should match one’s strutting to one’s accomplishment. - A-wolú-má-tee, ìwọ̀n ara-a rẹ̀ ló mo.
Translation: One-who-enters-a-town-and-maintains his-or-her-reputation does so because he or she knows his or her place.
Meaning: Self-knowledge guarantees one’s reputation. - A kì í fini joyè àwòdì ká má lè gbádìẹ.
Translation: One cannot be given the title ‘‘eagle’’ and yet be incapable of snatching chickens.
Meaning: One should be able to live up to expectations. - A kì í gbé sàráà kọjá-a moṣáláṣí.
Translation: One does not carry alms beyond the mosque.
Meaning: Going beyond boundary brings disgrace. - A kì í gbo ‘‘Lù ú’’ lenu àgbà.
Translation: One never hears ‘‘Beat him or her up’’ in the mouth of an elder.
Meaning: Elders resolve disputes; they do not goad disputants on. - Ibi tí a fi iyo sí ló ńṣomi sí.
Translation: Salt dampens only the place where it is placed.
Meaning: One should confine one’s activities to the proper arena. See the preceding entry. - Ìgbà tí ṣìgìdìí bá fee ṣe eré ete a ní kí won gbé òun sójò.
Translation: When the clay statue hankers for disgrace, it asks to be placed in the rain.
Meaning: A person who so forgets himself or herself as to overreach will wind up in disgrace. - Kàkà kí kìnìún ṣe akápò ẹkùn, ọlodẹ a mú ọdẹ e ṣe.
Translation: Rather than the lion serving as carrier for the leopard, each will hunt separately.
Meaning: One would rather leave a company than remain in it and be subordinate to those one considers inferior. - Ìpàko onípàko là ńrí; eniẹleni ní ńrí tẹni.
Translation: One sees only other peoples’ occiputs; only others can see one’s own.
Meaning: One usually pays closer attention to other people’s faults than to one’s own, of which others are quite aware. - Idà ahun la fi ńpa ahun.
Translation: It is with its own sword that one kills the tortoise.
Meaning: Each person carries his or her own bane. - Ìjàkùmo kì í rin osán; ẹni a bí ire kì í rin òru.
Translation: The wild cat never roams in daylight; a wellbred person does not wander around in the nighttime.
Meaning: People who care about their reputation should stay away from questionable actions. - Ìjàlọ ò lè gbé òkúta.
Translation: The brown ant cannot lift a boulder.
Meaning: One should not attempt a task that is beyond one’s capability. - Ká ríni lóde ò dàbí-i ká báni délé.
Translation: To see a person in the streets is not the same as going home with the person.
Meaning: To really know a person, one must see the person where he or she lives. - Kàkà ká dobále fún Gàmbàrí, ká rojú ká kú.
Translation: Rather than prostrate oneself in homage or obeisance to a Hausa person, one should rather die.
Meaning: An expression of Yoruba superciliousness toward the Hausa. - Ọgbon ọlọgbon la fi ń ṣọgbon; ìmoràn ẹnìkan ò to boro.
Translation: One learns wisdom from other people’s wisdom; one person’s knowledge does not amount to anything.
Meaning: Wisdom and knowledge are best shared. - Ọlogbon dorí ẹja mú; òmùgo dìrù-u re mú.
Translation: The wise person grabs a fish by the head; the fool grabs it by the tail fin.
Meaning: The wise person knows better than a fool the best way to handle a situation. - Ọmọdé kì í mọ ori-í jẹ kó má ràá a lenu.
Translation: A child is never so careful about eating corn meal that it does not smear the meal on its mouth.
Meaning: A youth may be clever but will inevitably make some mistakes. - Ọmọdé kì í ní iná níle kí tòde má jòó o.
Translation: A child does not have fire at home and therefore escapes being burned by the fire abroad.
Meaning: Being secure and well respected in one’s home does not save one from vicissitudes outside the home. - Ọmọ ẹni kì í gbọnse ká fi eèsún nù ú nídìí.
Translation: One does not, after one’s child defecates, wipe the child’s anus with the abrasive elephant grass.
Meaning: We do not deliberately injure those who look to us for protection. - Ọmọ ẹní dàra, bí-i ká fi ṣaya ko.
Translation: One’s child may be beautiful, but one cannot make her one’s wife.
Meaning: Not all attractive propositions can be pursued. - Okookan là ńyọ ẹse lábàtà.
Translation: One at a time is how one extricates one’s feet from a mire.
Meaning: The best way to approach a problem is systematically. - Ọ̀kọ̀ọ̀kan là ńyọ ẹse lekù.
Translation: One at a time is how one removes one’s legs from a masquerade costume.
Meaning: The best way to approach a problem is systematically. Compare the preceding entry. - O kò mọ ewà lóńjẹ à-jẹ-sùn.
Translation: You do not know what black-eyed peas are like for dinner.
Meaning: Addressed to a person who is not mindful of the repercussions of his or her behavior. - Ó yẹ ẹni gbogbo kó dínwó aró, kò yẹ atoolé.
Translation: It is fitting for everybody to bargain to reduce the cost of dyeing clothes, but not the bed wetter.
Meaning: The person in desperate need of a thing cannot afford to be finicky. - Ogun tí olójúméjìí rí sá ni olójúkan-án ní òún ńlọ jà.
Translation: The war that the two-eyed person saw and fled is the same the one-eyed person vows he will join.
Meaning: A comment on overreaching people who attempt feats that have defeated their betters. - Ojú kì í pon ẹdun kó dẹni ile; ìṣe kì í ṣe igún kó di ojúgbà adìẹ.
Translation: The colobus monkey is never so reduced in circumstances that it becomes a land hugging creature; the vulture is never so badly off that it becomes the equal of a chicken.
Meaning: No matter what one’s misfortune, one should maintain one’s dignity. - Orí tó kọ ẹrù, owó ní ńnáni.
Translation: A head that refuses [to carry] loads will cost its owner some money.
Meaning: It costs money to have others do what one refuses to do for oneself. - Òṣùpá lé a ní kò gún; ẹni towo e-e bá to kó tún un ṣe.
Translation: The moon appears, and people say it is not straight; whoever can reach it, let him go and right it.
Meaning: It is pointless to complain about things one can do nothing about. - Ọbe tí baálé kì í jẹ, ìyálé ilé kì í sè é.
Translation: The sort of stew the man of the house will not eat, the woman of the house should not cook.
Meaning: One should not do what one knows one’s comrades hate. - Òwú kì í là kínú bí olóko.
Translation: The cotton seed does not open and thus anger the farmer.
Meaning: The success of a venture does not make one angry. - Ọmọdé ò moògùn ó ńpè é legùn-ún.
Translation: A child does not know medicine and says it is a thorn.
Meaning: The ignorant person knows not the value of anything. Compare the previous two entries. - Ọ̀pọ̀lọ́ ní òún lè sín ìleke; ta ní je fi ìlẹ̀lẹ̀ ọ̀pọ̀lọ́ sídìí ọmọ-ọ e?
Translation: The toad boasts that it knows how to string beads; who, though, would put a toad’s beads around his child’s waist?
Meaning: Not just anything will do for discriminating people. - Ọ̀rọ̀ tí ọlọgbon bá sọ, ẹnu aṣiwèrè la ti ńgbo ọ.
Translation: Whatever a wise man says will be heard repeated by the nitwit.
Meaning: Rumormongers always spread the news they hear from reliable sources.
Meaning of Proverb
A proverb can be described as a collection of wise words used to explain ideas, support opinions, or lay out arguments. In Yorùbá society, there is no subject that proverbs do not address. This means that proverbs touch on all aspects of life. The Yorùbá derive wisdom from proverbs. Proverbs serve as a guide when speech becomes unclear, and they bring light to areas of conversation shrouded in darkness.
Just as it exists in other human societies, especially in Africa, the Yorùbá deeply enjoy the use of proverbs. Proverbs are words of wisdom. Among the Yorùbá, a person who knows proverbs is regarded as a sage. The words contained in proverbs are often profound, and their meanings often go deeper than they appear.
The Yorùbá believe that “the mouth of the elder is the root of wisdom.” This means that elders are the rightful custodians of proverbs. Proverbs are known to be in the custody of the elderly people, who they believe are endowed with the experience and capability. In essence, elders possess the experience and knowledge required to use proverbs appropriately and provide the correct interpretation. As the saying goes, “If a child has as many clothes as an elder, they cannot have as many rags.” (Bí ọmọdé bá ní aṣọ bí àgbà, kò lè ní àkísà bí àgbà) The experience of elders aids them in using proverbs effectively and assigning the proper meanings to them.
In most cases, when the Yorùbá, especially the young ones, want to lace their communication with proverbs, they do request permission for using proverbs. Yorùbá believes it is mandatory for young people to seek permission before using proverbs in the presence of elders or to apologize after using one. The use of proverbs is a deeply cherished heritage of the Yorùbá people.
Read on Yorùbá Idioms
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