Talk:Lugbara proverbs

Unsourced

Aco/ Ebu si aza oye ku.
- Translation: Using a hoe is not madness for nothing.
- Meaning: Whatever you do, expect a profit.
- English equivalent: You reap what you sow!
Ama woro anzi Mungu ni.
- Translation: We are all GOD’s children.
- Meaning: Don’t discriminate based on race, tribe or beliefs!
- Quoted from a famous Lugbara song
Aria gaa ti anya ose.
- Translation: A small bird defecated a large mass of digested millet.
- Meaning: Don't underestimate people or things because of their size.
- English equivalent: Don't judge a book by its cover.
Ata abu-a ri, le mima nga azi raka mima nya ndo.
- Translation: Even in the valley plantation, you must first work before you eat.
- Meaning: No work, no food!
Awoko so ti andre.
- Translation: Anger pierced the cow's tongue.
- Meaning: Do not let anger harm you!
Ayia ma ndu yo.
- Translation: There is no other mother.
- Meaning: Everyone is entitled to only one mother.
Ayia nduri ozuku fi ni.
- Translation: A stepmother is (like) a porcupine's intestines.
- Meaning: Stepmothers are usually bitter.

'Ba je o'buka mva alea risi ku.
- Translation: People don't buy a baby strap for an unborn foetus.
- Meaning: You cannot predict the future.
- English equivalent: Don't count your chickens before they hatch!
'Ba yori ni ba je oku ku.
- Translation: For an absent bridegroom, you cannot marry a wife.
- Meaning: Follow the procedure!

Embeleke ka i-agi ma eti ne, eri gu sibe inve.
- Translation: When an ape sees its friend's (red) bottom, it laughs with white teeth (showing).
- Moral: Do not laugh at other people's shortcomings! Afterall, you have your own.
- Quoted from the Lugbara song entitled 'Embeleke' by Leila Chandiru
Eri mi te era liri etia.
- Translation: It is waiting for you under the high granary.
- Meaning: Future problems (issues) are waiting for you if you don't listen to advice.
E'yere nya ni.
- Translation: Patience is the one that ate.
- Meaning: Patience pays.

Isaku luni i-eti ceni ku.
- Translation: The Isaku container for sieving local salt doesn't drill holes in its bottom by itself.
- Meaning: Nothing changes unless you do something.
Izo anji angu vo re.
- Translation: Girls slash very far.
- Meaning: Girls can get married far away and prepare a new place for their relatives to visit.

Kaka ni ka 'ba sikokori ni.
- Translation: Maize matures for people without teeth.
- Meaning: Good things happen to people who least need them.

Mi owu lesu i-adapibori si ku.
- Translation: Do not cry because of spilt milk.
- Meaning: Whatever has already happened cannot be changed.
- English equivalent: Let bygones be bygones!

Nyatu li odji.
- Literal Translation: Too much eating cut the baboon. Odji, the baboon was sitted on a tree branch and ants were flying in circles. He picked ants one by one but greed in his mind made him jump to catch the whole circle and he fell.
- Moral: Do things sparingly and not greedily!

Obibiasi, etto ma jo ve ra.
- Translation: Because of copying, the rabbit's house got burnt.
- Meaning: Be yourself!
Ocoo ini ri atuluku dria.
- Idiomatic translation: A black dog is sitting on the kitchen-stove.
- Meaning: No food will be cooked nor eaten tonight.
Odidia nya puro ibi.
- Translation: Newness ate raw grasshoppers.
- Meaning: Be vigilant while a newcomer in any place, you can be made to do anything!
Odru fu Anera/ Anira ni te.
- Translation: The buffalo killed Anera (who thougt he had seen it all)/ Anira (who thought he knew it all).
- Meaning: Listen to advice!

Okuku dra drinjasi (oboa).
- Translation: The tortoise died because of shyness (in its boat).
- Meaning: Shyness will make you miss opportunities.

Pati ifi ideni re ku.
- Translation: The seed of a tree doesn't fall far.
- Meaning: A parent's behaviour is reflected in his kid.
- English equivalent: An apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Sindani tokoa bongo sozuri ka di tagiri nde.
- Translation: A mere cloth-sewing needle can defeat a rich man to own.
- Meaning: Poor people are actually wealthier than rich people in certain aspects.
- Quoted from the Lugbara song entitled 'Alio Madrisi'