ὄνος ~ ὄνου (noun m.): donkey
αἴξ ~ αἰγός (noun c.): goat
βοῦς ~ βοός (noun c.): ox, cow
βάτραχος ~ βατράχου (noun m.): frog
κύων ~ κυνός (noun c.): dog
These are the proverbs (and there are always more proverbs at the blog):
Ὄνος ὕεται.
Αἲξ θάλασσαν.
Ἐκ τοῦ βοῦς ἡ μάστιξ.
Βατράχῳ ὕδωρ καὶ στέαρ γαλῇ.
Κύων ἐπὶ τὸν ἴδιον ἔμετον ἐπιστρέψας.
And now, some commentary:
Ὄνος ὕεται.
The donkey is being rained on.
This saying refers to someone who can't be bothered to do anything, no matter what is happened, just as a donkey stands there in the rain and doesn't bother to look for shelter.
Αἲξ θάλασσαν.
The goat (sees) the sea.
The idea is that the goat is amazed by the sea, and looks at it with fascination because it is something entirely new. Goats live in mountains and valleys; they do not often get to see the sea, so the saying is used to refer to someone who is staring in amazement at something they have not seen before.
Ἐκ τοῦ βοῦς ἡ μάστιξ.
From the ox (is made) the whip.
In other words: the skin of the dead ox, made into leather, thus supplies the whip that will be used on living oxen. It's hard being an animal in the humans' world.
Βατράχῳ ὕδωρ καὶ στέαρ γαλῇ.
Water for the frog and fat for the weasel.
You've seen the first part of this saying before — Βατράχῳ ὕδωρ — which means giving someone what they want or like, as frogs like water. The second part, στέαρ γαλῇ, "fat for the weasel," expresses the same idea: weasels like to eat fat! So, the proverb refers to giving people what they want or like, while emphasizing "different strokes for different folks." Frogs and weasels don't want the same thing.
Κύων ἐπὶ τὸν ἴδιον ἔμετον ἐπιστρέψας.
The dog turned back to its own vomit.
This saying comes from the Biblical Book of Proverbs. Here is the verse in the King James version: As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. From Greek ἔμετος we get English "emetic."
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
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