I'm doing an assignment for my swahili class. the teacher is an adorable little man who is very kindly and cute. although I'm certainly not the best student (actually, I may be the worst in the class - but I tell myself that's cause the majority of people are native speakers), I do enjoy it.
here a few sayings and their translations that I just came across by Hassan O. Ali (http://www.glcom.com/hassan/kanga.html) .
Akiba haiozi
translation: Savings never go bad
general explanation: It's always good to save or invest for the future.
Akufukuzae hakwambii toka
translation: A person who wants you out of her/his place will not tell you, 'Get out!'
general explanation: The actual Swahili proverb doesn't stop there, it continues with: "... you will just learn that from her/his actions."This proverb (which is used a lot in the Swahili world) is just a reminder that people's inner feelings are mostly communicated through actions, attitude and behaviour, and much less through words.Literally, the proverb tells people not to wait until they are verbally notified that they are no longer welcome at a particular place, instead, they should try to take note of the attitude, actions, and behaviour of their hosts, to know that they have stayed long enough and it was time to leave.
(our english equivalent would be, "actions speak louder than words")
This next one made me laugh out loud!
Dunia duara
translation: The Earth is round
general explanation: Go wherever you go, but you'll return to the same old place. In some cases this saying is used to discourage overindulgence in other peoples' affairs. The Earth is round, everything revolves, and you'll never get to the bottom of everything! Some would add, "Dunia duara, ukiichungua utahara!!" (The Earth is round, you'll end up catching diarrhoea if you investigate it!). Try not to get bothered, worried and concerned with everything. Afterall, the Earth is round!
what are some of your favourite english (or any other language) sayings?
tulip
again, all sayings, translations and explanations taken from http://www.glcom.com/hassan/kanga.html. (Copyright © Hassan O. Ali, 2004).
2 comments:
i love the dunia duara idiom! it's so good. i love "it's raining cats and dogs". also when we were little my younger bro thought that the expression "bit the dust" was the most hilarious thing in the english language. whenever we wanted to make him giggle uncontrollably we'd say something "bit the dust" and he'd be off :)
that's so funny. I started laughing at that one myself when you said it.
bit the dust - heehee
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