10 Africa Warning Proverbs You Should Know

According to the great Oladele Taiwo in (1976)who defined proverb as dealing with all aspects of life. He said they are used to emphasize the words of wise and are the stock in trade of old people who used them to convey the precise moral lessons, warnings,and advice. Since they make a greater impact on the mind than ordinary words. Proverbs are the gems of wisdom and philosophy. Below are the 10 Africa proverbs pertaining warnings:

1. All lizards lie flat on their stomach,but it is difficult to know the one suffering from stomach ache: Meaning, everyone looks the same on the outside but it’s difficult to distinguished good people from the bad ones since it’s not written on their faces.
2. A dog that wants to go astray refuses to heed the Hunter’s sound of the whistle: Meaning, this proverb is used to warn disobedient children that they may be ruined if they keep ignoring the advice of elders.
3. A bird in hand is worth twice in the bush: Meaning, they used this proverb to warn and advice people to hold onto something they have than to risk loosing it in the process of aiming something better.
4. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches: Meaning, good name make people to trust you. In fact, what’s good with your riches if you can’t be trusted? Also it’s believe that sooner or later riches leave you or you leave them. But good name is for eternity,even after your demise your legacy lives on.
5. When the son of a hunch backed woman wants to hear harsh comments, he request his mother to put him at her back: Meaning, it is very common among Africa women to back their babies with wrapper . However, a woman with a hunch back cannot carry her son at her back. It will now be considered inappropriate for any child to demand for such privilege from a hunch back mother. In a nutshell, this proverb is used when someone knows the truth about someone or something yet, he’s asking about it in other to jocular the person.
6. He who throws a stone in the market,it will hit someone he knows: Meaning, this proverb is used to remind people of the law of karma that if you do bad, it will always bounce back to you and when it does, you won’t suffer it alone but your family too.
7. The matter which we are preventing the head of the family from hearing about, in the end,it will be settled by him: Meaning, this is when quarrels or disputes happen among the people in the family, usually children and women, and try to hide them from the head of the family. However, in most cases the matter gets out of hand and it becomes inevitable to call on the head family to settle it.
8. Charity begins at home: Meaning, good ethics, traits, and manners are majorly learnt from home. Therefore, virtues people and people with bad conducts in the society, it’s Believe they inherit it from their background.
9. The person who eats late, will not eat spoilt food: Meaning, this is about being patient. The ability to resist an impulse to take an immediately available reward in the hope of obtaining a more valued reward in the feature.
10. A pot cannot contain both the Palm fruit and water at the same time: Meaning, there can only be a sailor in a ship, and a king at a time. People with friction between them usually used this proverb to threaten one another.