A straw will show which way the wind blows
Small events can be a guide to momentous happenings. If the Foreign Secretary tells a taxi-driver at two o'clock in the morning to take him to... Read more →
Proverbs with the word Wind
Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind
One evil leads to a worse. The source is Hosea, viii, 7: 'For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.'
It is as well to know which way the wind blows
It is as well to know what developments are likely, or what is the state of public opinion. 'To know which way the cat is going to jump' has... Read more →
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good
When all ocean-going ships depended upon the wind to blow them along, a wind favourable to a vessel travelling east was unfavourable to one... Read more →
Hoist your sail when the wind is fair
Don't act when circumstances are unfavourable. Wait for a better opportunity of achieving success - and when it comes, seize upon it
God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb
Here ‘tempers’ means ‘softens, makes less severe’, and ‘shorn’ means ‘with its wool cut off’. The proverb means that God treats... Read more →