Igbo English

Kpim-Kpim-Kpim! bü onye ukwu n'ahü! Bump-thump-scratch! It's all on a big man's skin! (Being "big" does not

protect a man against the bumps and scratches of life)

Ome nta ome imo, ya gwuo-nu ala lia

onwe ya!

A man who believes that he can do everything, let him dig a grave and

bury himself!

Oji ösö aga ögüh amagh na ögü bü önwü! A man who rushes into battle does not realize that battle entails death!

aba osisi n'ile ahürü n'iyi asi na öga abü

enwe.

The riverside monkey is apt to be blamed for every twig found in the

river.

Onye ite abügh onye ahia A pot trader whose fortunes are all invested in her clay pots isn't much

of a merchant. (All she has to do is stumble once on a twig!)

nwanyi ntebe dika ahia. Öna anö n'elu

nkwü ehue nkwü.

A wayward woman is like the weaver bird. She uses her perch on one

tree to scout other trees.

Nwanyi ariria ebele anagh azö üzö iyi. A woman who needs to borrow a calabash cannot count on going early

to the stream

Nkapi nd'agba abüba ödïgh

ïgbasaram. Örüya ndaa anïnï, agagh'm ïzü

ya.

The skunk rat can get as fat and plump as he pleases. If his whole hind

leg costs one anini, I still will not buy it.

Agwü nda aram, apü ada ara agwü. While the wooden idols are tormenting me, the termites are tormenting

them.

Onye uwa nküta ikpegh, ere awa ya iri. When a poor man gets a little money, his thoughts go off in ten different

directions.

Üdara dachiri üzö mpïwa gü ya. An udara fruit that falls on the side of the road is asking to be eaten.

Alawa egbuta. The big game often appears when the hunter has given up the hunt for

the day.

Agwa öjö gbaa afö, öghöla omenala. A bad habit that lasts more than a year may turn into a custom.

Nwa ike kwere lia nna ya. Öbügh opara

ngburu ya.

Whichever son is able should bury his father. The first son did not kill

him! (Note: The responsibility for burying the father usually falls on the

first son. The proverb says that whichever son, first or last, is able to

bury the father should do so. It need not be the sole responsibility of

the first son alone!)

Onye nji uwa gwörö ajü nvu ivu ya n'isi

efu.

A person who uses the world as his carrying pad will find himself

carrying his load on his bare head.

Miri nmara ohu nmara onye npü ya. The same rain that drenches the slave also drenches the slave driver.

ösö agbalagh akpi! A person can never run so fast as to run away from his backside!

Onye nnö nkwü-öka na ukwu

ma öwü öchara.

A person who underneath the tall palm tree is best positioned to tell on

which side the ripe head is.

Ihie aghütara na üghü eze anagh eju önü. No one gets a mouthful of food by picking between another person's

teeth.

Onye mayi ndi igbu hü onye ara ndi icha,

ya amara nke bü nke.

When a drunk meets a mad man, he learns the difference between

being merely drunk and truly mad.

ödigh ihie ohu nmere aghara ita

ya üta. Ma ökwöfüghü aka, asi na oruru

amüma. Ya nkwö-öaka, asi na ölara miri

na imi.

A slave boy is blamed no matter what he does: If he does not wash his

hands, he is accused of being dirty. If he washes his hands, he is

accused of wasting water.

Agwö nloro ibe ya, ödü afüö ya önü. A snake that swallows his friend will have a tail sticking out of his

mouth.

Ma nwata akpachagh anya achö ihie gburu

nna ya, ihie gburu nna ya egbuokwa ya.

If a young man is not prudent in seeking what killed his father, what

killed his father may also kill him.

önu nwa ezi bü önü nne ya The piglet has the same type of snout as her mother.

Aha nwanne onye bü Onye. A man has the same last name as his brother. (If your brother or best

friend is a thief, you are most likely a thief also).

Onye mbiakwutara anü na ngüsi amagh

otu eji gbuo ya, ma öbü sia ya.

A person who arrives at a feast when the cooked meat is being pulled

out of the pot does not know what was endured by others to catch and

cook it.

Onye eze nkwere ejegh akü ugiri. A man with a missing tooth does not eat ugiri (fruit) with relish.

Mbiara-mbiara abiagbula onye

nwe ülö. Onye mbiara abia nlawa, aka

nkpu-nkpu afükwala ya n'azü.

A guest should not cause his host's demise. When the guest is ready to

leave, his host should not have given him a hunch-back.

Nwata ngbere-egbere tüö'm nvö, ma

egbere-egbere tügwara ya.

If a baby crawls up to me and pinches me, I will get on my knees and

pinch him back.

Agwö nloro ibe ya, ödü afüö ya önü. A snake that swallows its neighbor will have a tail sticking out of its

mouth.

ONye nchörö iri awö hörö ke ndi okpokpo! If you decide to eat a toad, you should at least select one that is big!

Anagh ele ihie ero nriri eri ero. If you wish to eat a mushroom, you cannot consider what the

mushroom fed on.

Nwa nkita si: "Ndaara gi, ga

adaaram, öbü egwu. Ma na ndaara gi, ga

adafüghram, öbü ögü!"

The little puppy said: "If I fall down and roll over for you, and you fall

down and roll over for me, then we are playing. However, if I fall down

and roll over for you, but you do not fall down and roll over for me, then

that's a fight!"

Onye n'achü nwa ökükönwe

ada. Nwaökükö nwe nwe-nwe ösö.

A person who chases a chicken is due a fall. The chicken is a master of

the dodged escaped.

Üdara ndachiri üzö mpiwa ndi igü ya. An udara fruit that falls by the roadside must want to be picked up and

eaten.

Ükwü jia agü, ngbada abia ya ügwo. When the leopard has a broken paw, the antellope comes to collect an

old debt.

Uwa di ka ara eghu. Ma adügh ya The world (or life) is like a goat's udder. It does not yile any milk,

adü önagh agba miri. unless you punch and squeeze at it.

Inö na okpu Ala adü isi na Kamanü . Swearing in the name of one god (Kamanü ) while at the shrine of

another god (Ala).

Nkita si ka ya sobe ndi rijuru afö. Ma

osirö fa na önü , osi fa na ike.

The dog said that it is better to walk behind those who have had a lot to

eat, because if something doesn't come out of them one way, it is bound

to come out of them another way.

Onye mayi ndi igbu hü onye ara ndi icha,

ya amara nke bü nke.

When a drunken man meets a mad man, he learns the difference

between being merely drunk and being truly mad.

Onye nkpükpü nküsuo ahia, asi ya

lita ötö ka amara oke öha.

When a very short man causes the market to break up in a big fight,

bystanders ask him to stand up so that they can see how short (or tall)

he really is.

Ihie ghara nwa ntakiri ökö enyekwala ya

nvö oji atu ya

What gives the child the itch has already given him the fingernails for

scratching it.

Anu na enwegh ödu chi ya na egburu iji. God swats flies for an animal that has no tail.

Ana eji nwayö-nwayö ara ofe ndi öku. The best way to eat hot (or peppery) soup is little by little.

Obi öma nyiri nkpörö önwa isi. A calm spirit will enable a man to survive even a six-month jail sentence.

Ngwere si n.a ya amarala otu okpuru afo

ya nnu. Ya nsi makpuwa ya na ala.

The lizard says that he knows the condition of his underbelly. (And) the

reason he has it pressed against the ground.

Ntukwu ada agula ngwere, ma na ödu

ekwegh ya.

The lizard would like to stand erect, but his tail will not permit him.

Amara akagh ngburu oke madu. Akaa

anugh ngburu onye ogbede.

Knowing (the truth) but not telling it is what kills old men. Hearing (the

truth) but not heeding it is what kills young men.

Nku mba nwere nji eghere wo nri. Whatever the type of firewood found in a place, it is usually good

enough for the people of that place to cook with.

Egbe bere, ugo bere. Nke si ibeya ebela,

nku kwaa kwa ya!

Let the kite hawk have a perch, and let the eagle also have a

perch. Whichever begrudges the other the right to perch, may he

break a wing! (This is probably the most popular of all Igbo proverbs,

and one that best describes the Igbo philosophy of live and let live)

"Onye gbuwa achara, onye gbuwa! Onye

akpola ibeya onye ukoni!"

"Everyone cut the grass! Cut the grass! Let no one (despisingly) call

the others 'Prisoners!'" (Adapted from a popular prisoners' work song,

this proverb essentially says, "We're all in the same boat! So let's get

on with the work we have to do. And let no one despise the others!)

Onye mberira akwa ejegh (anagh) ebe

"önuma ekelam obi."

A guest mourner (at a funeral) does not wail as though his heart is

broken.

Onye akpörö-akpö nri ejegh elobi nkalari. A person who happens by a neighbor's house at dinner time, and is

invited to join the meal, does not swallow such large morsels as to break

the string of pearls around his neck. (A person who drops by a

neighbor's house and finds the neighbor eating is expected to eat

modestly if the neighbor invites him to join the meal). >

Ya nruruöh, onukwagh na Ukwa nkwere. When a once-beautiful piece of cloth has turned into rags, no one

remembers that it was woven by Ukwa master weavers.

Efu uzo chuö ufu ösö, alogharia n'ulö maa One first drives off the fox, before taking the chickens home and

okuko ikpe. blaming them for straying.

Nkita raah shi, eze ere-e eghu! Dog eats excreta, but goat gets rotten teeth!

Öpita ögbafuo amagh ngbe oji gbaa ukwu

aku.

A man who shoots his arrows as he makes them does not realize when

he has shot a whole sheaf.

Di ete akachagh ihie öhuru n'elu nkwu. A palm tree climber is not expected to tell everything he sees from up

above.

Onye evu evu aga ahia amagh na uzö ndi

anya.

A person who is being carried to the market does not realize that the

way is long.

Afö akagh ihie ori-ri. All you can tell about a big belly is that the owner has had a lot to eat,

not what he had to eat!