17+ Sayings You Always Use If You Are Lebanese
It is in all old cultures, not only ours, to have sayings and proverbs which we inherit in our communication through generations.
Meant to be wise teachings of the elders who used parables to make their points, some could also mean nothing much other than the meanings we give them with time.
We can easily realize it, and how ridiculous some are, only once we take a mindful halt to think if what we are saying makes any sense, really.
At that point, it is just smart to discriminate between the wise ones, the silly ones we must reconsider, and the ones we must totally discard for good. Let's jump into some of ours:
#1 We taught them how to beg, they raced us to the gates
https://giphy.com/gifs/amazon-rose-parade-l4Ep7K7izQwoQazLy
Basically, it doesn't mean what it says. This is not about the skill of begging and conning. It is used by a Lebanese when he or she feels being duped or outsmarted by someone who has learned the trick or know-how from him or her. In brief, the person turned the learned trick on his/her 'teacher'.
#2 Do good and throw into the sea
https://giphy.com/gifs/photography-fish-XWHe62Za5zPck
Now, about that! A saying that was cut off in time from its original complete sentence, it has brought us to believe that it's about "don't mind if the goodness you give is not appreciated. Keep giving anyway." Wrong teaching, people, for the wisdom is: Don't pour olive oil in a broken jar.
The original saying continues with "if it is not appreciated by the ungrateful, it will be appreciated by God." In that, I do agree, but I also stand that our giving should be done with wisdom, for a Lebanese proverb of ours also says: In akramta el-la'eema, tamarrada -If you give generously to the wicked, he will rebel against you.
P.S. Don't you ever throw anything in the sea unless it's your fishnet.
#3 Like a deaf man at a wedding procession
https://giphy.com/gifs/ranveersinghofficial-ranveer-singh-not-listening-interested-4WFEWFhRgtgPjslE7Q
Wedding processions (zaffeh) in our part of the world are so boisterous that they can't be unheard by all the neighborhood, let alone a person at the zaffeh unless he/she has a hearing problem. So when we say of someone Metel el-attrash bil zafeh , we simply mean that he or she refuses to listen whatever we say.
#4 He/she who gossips to you will gossip about you
https://giphy.com/gifs/asmodee-games-becca-scott-8ZbiOPN8Ge6MKsgGju
Kind of true and unarguable really. A wise piece of caution that holds its truth. There is a difference between relaying a story to a friend and talking with malignancy. So, if a friend of yours tends to gossip to you, be wise and don't enable him or her by listening and engaging in that type of chit-chat.
#5 He who wants to eat honey should endure the stings
https://giphy.com/gifs/RobertEBlackmon-scared-hell-no-careful-MXiYQp4Oj7MktTrx1l
It's true that we don't need anymore to collect our honey right from the beehive to eat it. But the parable holds its good truth, which is conveyed in this saying to encourage a person to persevere in his or her aim despite the hardships involved.
Basically, it means "if you want to enjoy the outcome, you have to endure the hard work." In the words which I personally use, "Consider the thorns when aiming for the roses."
#6 You spit on his face and he'll tell you it's raining
https://giphy.com/gifs/singin-in-the-rain-MS0az8du4jir6
It isn't a nice one, really, and it isn't to be taken literally. The saying tebzo' aaleh w b-elak aam b-tchatteh describes what a coward would do when aggressed: He or she will avoid confrontation to the point of qualifying the hostile act as a good thing (rain has always been deemed a blessing in our culture).
#7 Better a thousand-time coward than one time "may he rest in peace"
https://giphy.com/gifs/siliconvalleyhbo-hbo-silicon-valley-ZCTMRJ77zCNChNg1eR
Another saying regarding cowardice but this one is used by the person who wants to avoid confrontation or putting himself or herself at risk. Basically, when the one accused of being a coward says Alf marra jabehn w wala marra Allah yerhamo, he or she means, "I better be told that I am a coward a thousand times and not once that I am dead."
Kind of smart, if you ask me. Not all risks or confrontations yield good outcomes, and not all are worth tackling.
#8 The wound hurts only at its spot