Cat got your tongue
"Has the cat got your tongue?" is an expression in the form of a question that originated in the mid-nineteenth century and was used when addressing a child who refused to answer a parent's... Read more →
Proverbs starting with letter C
A cat in gloves catches no mice
Sometimes you cannot get what you want by being careful and polite. Restraint and caution (or ‘pussyfooting’) achieve nothing. This is similar to the French 14th century proverb: chat engaunté... Read more →
Discontent is the first step in progress
Were we all completely satisfied with the existing state of affairs, there would be no progress. It is only when we are not content wit the things as they are that we deicide that something must be... Read more →
Cut your coat according to your cloth
Adjust your expenditure according to your resources. 'I asked the dealer the price of the tennis racket I had set my heart on, but it was too expensive, so I had to cut my coat according to my cloth... Read more →
Custom reconciles us to everything
In modern parlance, we can get used to anything. The longer we have to put up with it, however irksome or unpleasant it may be, the more able are we to adapt ourselves to it. It becomes part of our... Read more →
Custom makes all things easy
This means the same as practice makes perfect.
Curses, like chickens, come home to roost
Here 'come home to roost' means 'recoil upon the originator', just as when a stone thrown up into the air comes down on the head of the thrower. A curse is the utterance of an evil wish. 'May you be... Read more →
Cross the stream where it is shallowest
Don’t make difficulties for yourself by doing things the hard way. Find the simplest means of achieving your object.
A creaking gate hangs long
Persons in weak health often live a long time. This is mostly used for very sick people that are expected to die very soon, but they go on to live with their sickness for a long time. -- I'm worried... Read more →
The cowl does not make the monk
A cowl is a long cloak with a hood that covers the head of the wearer. The proverb means that the wearing of such a garment does not turn a man into a monk; he may be a rascal disguised as a holy... Read more →
