Because yesterday I mentioned a funny Romanian saying, I thought about giving you a taste of how funny or weird some can get, so here is my top five Romanian sayings, which I’ve heard throughout my whole childhood and adolescence.
1. The one who will steal an egg today, will steal an ox tomorrow! I have heard this saying a lot before I turned twelve, because I was kind of a kleptomaniac and I used to steal other children’s crap when we went visiting. At some point my mom had to undress me every time before going home, so I couldn’t use my favorite excuse that I forgot them in my pocket after playing with them. But, as I said, it was just crap and it’s not like I didn’t leave them something in exchange, usually some toy I was bored with or the lions from the Kinder collection that I had twice. Honestly from my point of view I was being fair and reasonable.
2. Don’t drown yourself at the shore like the gypsies do! This one is the one that will probably follow me around my whole life, as it was taken over by D, to bug me with it, after I finally escaped it from my mother’s mouth. I can’t deny I do tend (I mean I always do) not to finish anything I have started working on, no matter how exciting or interesting and I have a reputation of working extremely hard for what I want and just when I am ready to touch the finish line and taste my success, I just turn around and chase another rabbit. If I could have, I would have never gave birth to my daughter because that represented a well done and finished thing for me. What can I say? I love beginnings and endings just don’t make sense at all to me.
3. Any craft is a golden bracelet! I didn’t get to hear this a lot, just until the revolution because I guess in communism every one had a job and if you worked hard supposedly you were a very well seen contributor to society, but there was always someone in my family who used to say it on special occasions, whenever us, all the children of the family were gathered in the same place. So, basically when I was a kid I have heard very often that I have to learn a trade fast and then get a job later. Ah, how I love the blindfolds that society casts away into the world and humans blindly pass it on to the next generation of fools.
4. Whomever starts digging someone else’s hole, will fall himself into it! I have to admit I have rarely heard this one addressed my way, but it was a constant saying in the conversations my mother had about her family and friends. I thought then that maybe they are all so stupid to meddle in other’s people business, but I have later understood that it has a two way meaning. I won’t explain, you all should figure it out by yourselves.
5. Whomever laughs last, laughs better! Oh yes, I loved this one, but it took me twenty years to actually apply it, because while others were having fun on my expense, I ignored them minding my own business, but that constant buzz in my ears was really annoying, so when I started laughing, I did it way better and they started crying (or at least I hope they did). Which leads me to another favorite of mine: Ignore your enemies, nothing bothers them more! I think this one is pretty obvious and also it stuck to me all this years. Maybe sometimes I apply it wrong by ignoring not only my enemies, but one needs to practice to be the best, right?
This was my top five favorite Romanian sayings and a bonus one. I hope I made you smile and challenged your thoughts for the day.
