Proverbs and sayings apply to almost every area of life. Some of the most typical proverbs in our region, concern the months and the prediction of the weather. You can find the right one for each of the following months of the year:
January: “When it’s summer in January, it’s winter in summer for that”,
February: “February frostbitten”,
March: “March like a pot”,
April: “April – the plethora that intertwines: a little winter, a little summer”.
May: “Thunder in May is conducive to fertility”,
June: “In June it will turn out what God will give us as a gift”,
July: “When July gives rains, the long summer will be still”,
August: “When August grows heather – autumn short, passes quickly”,
September: “What a first September, such will be autumn”,
October: “The month of October – March the faithful image”,
November: “The sun of November heralds frost”,
December: “December pears the earth for animals and people”.
Many sayings are instructive or ponderous, such as: “agreement builds, disagreement ruins” (when we want to persuade someone to reconcile), “the speck in his eye you see, but the beam in your own you don’t” (if someone speaks negatively about others, and has worse vices himself), “there is more happiness in giving than in taking”, “no job dishonours” (repeated especially when someone changes to a worse job than the previous one), The most important of them are the following: “no work dishonours anyone” (repeated especially when someone changes a job to one that is worse than the one they had before), “frugality and work make people rich”, “God is merciless but fair” (meaning that if someone has done injustice or treated others badly, they are bound to get revenge from God), “the pot calling the kettle black” (when someone insults another person, even though they have the same faults), “he with whom he associates, (especially said by mothers when they want to persuade their children not to meet certain people), “better a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof” (if someone is considering choosing something certain but less attractive over something more interesting, but unlikely), “he who sows the wind reaps the storm” (about a person who causes quarrels and then has problems as a result), (about a person who causes quarrels and then has problems as a result), “he who digs holes under others, falls into them himself” (a similar saying, concerning an attempt to harm other people), “as they see you, so they write you” (speaking of the importance of appearance and careful dressing, but also behaviour), “when man is in a hurry, the devil is glad” (if we are in a hurry, we are bound to have many minor accidents or failures).
Polish sayings are also often mocking in nature: “Wysoki jak popola, głupi jak fasola”, “zła diabli nie wezmą”, (if someone happily avoids an accident or illness), “zapomniał wół, jak cielęciem był” (about parents reproaching children for playing), “jajko mądrzejszy niż kura” (when a child behaves more sensibly than a parent), “gdzie diabeł nie może tam babę pośle” (a woman, being more cunning than the devil, can harm in any situation).
When it is sometimes difficult to describe something, a saying helps to describe the situation: “As the tailor wears what he wears” (we deal with the situation as best we can with the help we have at our disposal), “The razor claws itself” (in a difficult situation we help ourselves as much as we can), “Once in, always out” (sometimes fate favours us and sometimes it does not), “The devil is on our tail” (when we cannot find something that should be visible).