Idiom or Proverb
|
Translation
|
Meaning
|
| A ddwg ŵy a ddwg fwy |
He who steals an egg will steal more |
A leopard never changes his spots |
| A fo ben, bid bont |
He who leads is a bridge |
If you want to be a leader, be a bridge |
| Adar o'r unlliw, ehedant i'r unlle |
Birds of the same colour fly to the same place |
Those with the same mind set do the same things = Birds of a feather flock together
|
| Angel pen ffordd, diawl pen tân. |
An Angel on the road, a Devil at the fireplace |
Being two faced between public and private life |
| Ar gefn ei geffyl gwyn |
On the back of his white horse |
full of mischief |
| Ar y gweill |
On the (knitting) needles |
In progress |
| Caiff dyn dysg o'i grud i'w fedd |
Man learns from the cradle to the grave |
Time brings wisdom |
| Canu cyn borefwyd, crio cyn swper |
To sing before breakfast is to weep before supper |
|
| Cartref yw cartref, er tloted y bo |
Home is home, however poor it may be |
|
| Ceffyl da yw Ewyllys |
Will is a good horse |
If someone really wants to do it he/she will work hard |
| Cenedl heb iaith yw cenedl heb galon |
A nation without a language is a nation without a heart |
|
| Chwarae troi'n chwerw, wrth chwarae gyda thân |
Playing with fire will eventually turn bitter. |
If you play with fire you will get burnt |
| Cicio'r dorth |
to kick the loaf |
to leave a job in a rash manner |
| Cof a llithr, llythyrau a geidw. |
Memory slips, letters remain. |
|
| Cymerwch ofal rhag ofn i chi brynu cath mewn cwd |
Take care lest you buy a cat in a sack |
pig in a poke |
| Cymro glan gloyw. |
A shining clean Welshman |
A committed Welshman. |
| Cynnal tan mewn hen aelwyd |
To light a fire in an old fireplace |
To start dating an old flame |
| Cyntaf i'r felin caiff falu |
First to the mill will get to grind |
|
| Cyw a fegir yn uffern, yn uffern y myn fod |
A chick reared in hell will want to remain in hell. |
|
| Dawnsio ar y dibyn |
Dancing on the edge of a cliff |
Playing with fire |
| Deuparth gwaith yw ei ddechrau |
Two thirds of the work is starting |
Once you’ve started you’re two thirds done |
| Digrif gan bob aderyn ei lais ei hun |
Every bird relishes his own voice |
|
| Dim yn yr un cae |
Not in the same field |
can't be compared in terms of quality or skills = Not in the same league |
| Diwedd y gân yw'r geiniog |
At the end of the song comes payment. |
|
| Dyfal donc a dyr y garreg |
If you keep on tapping , the stone with break |
Keep going and you’ll get there in the end |
| Dywed yn dda am dy gyfaill, am dy elyn dywed ddim. |
Speak well of your friend; of your enemy say nothing. |
|
| Eang yw'r byd i bawb |
The world is wide to everyone |
|
| Fel cath i gythral |
like a cat on the way to hell |
very very quickly |
| Fel iâr ar ben domen |
Like a hen on a heap |
|
| Fel iar yn y glaw |
Like a hen in the rain |
You look silly |
| Fel hwch ar y rhew |
Like a pig on ice |
You look silly |
| Gall pechod mawr ddyfod trwy ddrws bychan. |
A great sin can enter by a small door. |
A big error can start from a small one |
| Gorau adnabod, d'adnabod dy hun. |
The best knowledge is to know yourself |
|
| Gorau prinder, prinder geiriau |
The best shortage is a shortage of words |
|
| Gormod o bwdin dagith gi. |
Too much pudding will choke a dog |
|
| Gwell dysg na golud |
Better educated than wealthy |
|
| Gwell fy mwthyn fy hun na phlas arall |
Better my own cottage than the palace of another |
|
| Gwell swllt da na sofren ddrwg. |
Better a good shilling than a dud sovereign |
|
| Gwna dda dros ddrwg, uffern ni'th ddwg. |
Repay evil with good, and hell will not claim you |
|
| Gŵr heb bwyll, llong heb angor |
A man without prudence is a ship without an anchor |
|
| Gwyn y gwel y fran ei chyw |
The crow sees its chicks as being pure |
Parents always sees their children as perfect |
| Hawdd yw hi, i fod yn ddewr o tu nôl i mur |
It is easy to be brave behind a wall |
|
| Haws twyllo baban na gwrachen. |
A boy is easier cheated than a witch. |
|
| Heb ei fai , heb ei eni |
without its blame, without its name |
Everyone has their faults = no one's perfect |
| Hedyn pob drwg yw diogi. |
The seed of all evil is laziness. |
|
| Hen y teimlir ergydion a gaed yn ifanc. |
The old feel the blows that were aquired in youth. |
|
| Henaint ni ddaw ei hunan. |
Old age comes not on its own |
|
| Hir yw pob ymaros. |
All waiting is long |
|
| I'r pant rhed y dwr |
The water runs into the valley |
The rich tend to get richer |
| Llaeth i blentyn, cig i ŵr, cwrw i'r hen |
Milk for a child, meat for a man, beer for the old. |
|
| Llyncu mul |
To swallow a mule |
To sulk |
| Mae e/hi'n llygaid ei le |
He/she is in the eye of his/her place |
He/she is totally correct |
| Mae e'n cysgu llwynog |
He is fox sleeping. |
He is pretending to be asleep |
| Mae e'n Gwybod Hyd ei Gyrn |
He knows the length of his horns |
He knows his own strengths and weaknesses |
| Mae fe'n cadw draenog yn ei boced. |
He keeps a hedgehog in his pocket. |
He's tight with money. |
| Mae fe'n lladd gwair |
He is mowing hay |
He is killing time |
| Mae fo'n finny fowt |
He is half in and half out |
He can't make up his mind |
| Mae hi wedi llyncu pry |
She has swallowed a fly |
She has become pregnant |
| Mae hi’n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn / cyllyll a ffyrc |
It’s raining old ladies and sticks / knives and forks |
cats and dogs |
| Mae hi'n gafael |
She holds |
it is cold |
| Mae'n draed moch arna fi |
There is pigs feet on me. |
I've made a mess or in a mess about something I've done |
| Mae'r esgid yn gwasgu |
The shoe is very tight |
Money is scarce |
| Mae'r hwch yn mynd trwy'r siop |
The sow is going through the shop |
The place is going to rack and ruin |
| Meistr pob gwaith yw ymarfer. |
The master of all work is in its practise. |
|
| Mor ddu a bol buwch |
As dark as a cows stomach |
Its pitch black |
| Mwyaf y brys, mwyaf y rhwystr. |
More the hurry, more the obstacles. |
|
| Na ad i'th dafod dorri dy wddf |
Let not your tongue break your neck. |
|
| N'ad fi'n angof. |
Forget me not. |
|
| Nerth gwlad, ei gwybodaeth. |
The strength of a nation is its knowledge. |
|
| Nerth hen, ei gyngor parod. |
The strength of the old is their ready counsel. |
|
| Ni cheir da o hir gysgu. |
No good will come of over sleeping. |
|
| Ni edrych angau pwy decaf ei dalcen. |
Death considers not the fairest forehead. |
|
| Nid aur yw popeth melyn. |
Everything that is yellow is not gold. |
|
| O bob trwm, trymaf henaint." |
Of all weights, old age is the heaviest. |
|
| O dan yr ordd |
Under the sledge hammer |
being oppressed |
| Oriau man y bore |
The small hours of the morning |
Early in the morning |
| Paid codi pais ar ol piso |
Don't raise your pettycoat after peeing |
Don't cry over spilt milk |
| Pan fo llawer yn llywio fe sudda'r llong." |
When the steersmen are many the ship will sink. |
|
| Po callaf y dyn, anamlaf ei eiriau." |
The wiser the man, the fewer his words. |
|
| Po hynaf fo'r dyn, gadwaethaf fydd ei bwyll. |
The older the man, the weaker his mind. |
|
| Rhaid cropian cyn cerdded. |
You must crawl before walking. |
|
| Rhoi halen ar ei gynffon |
Put salt on his tail |
Tell someone off for doing something naughty. |
| Rhuthrodd ef i'r ty gyda ei wynt yn ei ddwrn |
He rushed into the house with his breath in his fist |
in a great hurry |
| Roedd hi'n berwi fel cawl pys |
She was boiling like pea soup |
She was chattering/talking incessantly. |
| Rwy'n barod i roi'r ffidil yn y tô |
I'm ready to put the fiddle in the roof |
I'm ready to give up |
| Segurdod yw clod y cledd. |
A sword's credit is its idleness. |
Power is best when not necessary to use.
|
| Teg yw edrych tuag adref. |
It is good to look homewards. |
|
| Tri chynnig i Gymro. |
Three attempts for a Welshman. |
|
| Tri chysur henaint: tân, te a thybaco. |
Three comforts of old age: fire, tea and tobacco. |
|
| Troi'r dŵr at ei felin ei hun. |
Turning the water at its own mill. |
|
| Tyfid baban, ni thyf ei gadachau. |
The child will grow, his clothes will not. |
|
| Tynnu nyth cacwn ar fy mhen |
To pull a wasp's nest on my head |
to do or say something that upsets a lot of people at the same time. |
| Wrth gicio a brathu, mae cariad yn magu. |
Whilst kicking and biting, love develops. |
|
| Wy'n teimlo fel tynnu blewyn o'i drwyn |
I feel like pulling a hair from his nose |
I feel like doing something nasty to him |
| Y cyntaf i'r felin gaiff falu |
The first to the mill can grind |
First come first served |
| Y mae dafad ddu ym mhob praidd. |
Every flock has its black sheep. |
|
| Y mae mwy nag un ffordd i gael Wil i'w wely. |
There is more than one way to get Wil to bed. |
... more than one way to skin a cat.
|
| Y mae taten ddrwg ym mhob sach. |
There is a bad potato in every sack. |
|
| Yn cerdded yn ling di long |
To dilly dally |
To loiter or walk casually |
| Yr hen a ŵyr a'r ieuanc a dybia. |
The old know and the young suspect. |
|
Comments (7)
WilapEynon said
at 12:19 pm on May 8, 2011
Mae e'n Gwybod Hyd ei Gyrn = 'He knows the length of his horns' - He knows his own strengths and weaknesses.
WilapEynon said
at 12:22 pm on May 8, 2011
If some one could tidy this up I would be most grateful... I am trying to start a sheet of Welsh Idioms.
WilapEynon said
at 3:52 pm on May 8, 2011
I think idioms and metaphors are the colour, music and feeling in the way a language is used and spoken...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/northwestwales/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9369000/9369876.stm
Robert Bruce said
at 7:15 pm on May 12, 2011
Robert Bruce said
at 7:19 pm on May 12, 2011
Sorry about the blank comment above - I had to use it because for some reason the page was broken by the BBC link.
Anyhow, do we need to put this lot into a table?
WilapEynon said
at 9:07 pm on May 12, 2011
Yes please... I tried doing but I am not certain how to... If it could be set up like the remainder of the tables then great. Thanks Rob.
WilapEynon said
at 8:17 am on May 13, 2011
:) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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