Favorite adages

My mom loved her little sayings and adages, and many have stayed with me over the years. I’ve compiled a small sampling here. Since many have to do with pennies, chickens and books, it makes me wonder how long before these fall out of our vernacular.

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

A penny saved is a penny earned

A picture is worth a thousand words

Two heads are better than one

Penny wise, pound foolish

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

The early bird catches the worm

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

The squeaky wheel gets the grease

Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Better to be safe than sorry

Out of sight, out of mind

Don’t judge a book by its cover

The grass is always greener on the other side

You reap what you sow

If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all

That’s water under the bridge

The pot calling the kettle black

Live and learn

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch

Kill two birds with one stone

And one favorite from my dad:

It’s daylight in the swamp

This one has an interesting origin. Its meaning is that it’s time to get up and start the day. Apparently loggers heard that cry, or “we’re losing daylight” or something similar, every morning and especially throughout the logging camps during the late 1880s and into the mid-1900s. I’m guessing my grandfather may have used this adage and my dad continued to use it throughout his life.

mitä kuuluu (how are you?)

voi kauhea (how terrible)

kuinka somena (how sweet)