Greek Proverbs

Here are today's Greek proverbs with LOLCats! These are repeats of previous proverbs, but now with illustrations... and with a quiz too! See how you do on the questions up top, and then try them again down below after you've read through the proverbs (the quiz results display only at the blog, not in the email):

Κούφη _____ τοῦτον καλύπτοι.

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Κούφη γῆ τοῦτον καλύπτοι.

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Μία _____ ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

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Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

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Ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ _____.

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Ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ σκορπίος.

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Μήτε νεῖν, μήτε _____.

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Μήτε νεῖν, μήτε γράμματα.

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Κακοῦ κόρακος, _____ ᾠόν.

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Κακοῦ κόρακος, κακὸν ᾠόν.

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Κούφη γῆ τοῦτον καλύπτοι.

May the earth cover him lightly.

This is a Greek epitaph; the earth referred to here is the earth of the grave. The adjective κούφη can mean light in the sense of quick or nimble, and it can also mean light in the sense of easy, not heavy, which is the meaning here. The verb καλύπτοι is in the optative mood. You can see the Greek root καλύπτ- in the word apocalypse, which means "uncovering" in Greek, as in the title of the Book of Revelation in the Bible with its apocalyptic contents.

Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

One swallow does not make a spring.

Compare the English saying: "One swallow does not make a summer." Aristotle cites the Greek saying in his Nicomachean Ethics, and it also provides the subject of an Aesop's fable: The Young Man and the Swallow.

Ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ σκορπίος.

Under every stone (there is) a scorpion.

So, you may want to "leave no stone unturned" (as the English saying advises), but this Greek proverb warns you to be careful when turning over stones: watch out for the scorpion underneath! As you can see, we get the word scorpion in English from the Greek σκορπίος.

Μήτε νεῖν μήτε γράμματα.

Not (knowing how) to swim nor (knowing) letters.

This saying refers to someone who is completely ignorant: they have no practical skills, such as swimming, and they cannot read or write. From the root of Greek γράμμα we get gram- words in English like grammar and telegram.

Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ᾠόν.

Bad egg of a bad crow.

Compare the English saying, "A chip off the old block," but with negative connotations. At Wikipedia, you can read a funny anecdote about the rhetorician Corax of Syracuse, whose name Κόραξ means crow; when Corax and a student who refused to pay his tuition got involved in a lawsuit, the judge got so angry at both of them that he threw them out of court, proclaiming "Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ᾠόν," with Corax being the bad crow, κακός κόραξ, and his pupil being the bad egg, κακὸν ᾠόν. In his Natural History, Aelian reports the proverb, claiming that crow-fathers were notorious for eating their offspring.

Κούφη _____ τοῦτον καλύπτοι.

reveal/hide answer

Κούφη γῆ τοῦτον καλύπτοι.

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Μία _____ ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

reveal/hide answer

Μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.

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Ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ _____.

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Ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ σκορπίος.

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Μήτε νεῖν, μήτε _____.

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Μήτε νεῖν, μήτε γράμματα.

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Κακοῦ κόρακος, _____ ᾠόν.

reveal/hide answer

Κακοῦ κόρακος, κακὸν ᾠόν.

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And to finish up, here's a random LOLCat too:

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