Vocabulary

recoil (of a gun)

recoil brake

main performance; headliner

charcoal setting procedure (tea ceremony)

first half of a tea ceremony (in which the charcoal is set and light food served)

break between the light meal and the actual serving of tea (during a formal tea ceremony)

withdrawal of loan credit (e.g. by a bank); retraction of credit; insistence on repayment

huh; I'll be damned; well!

I told you so; you see that?

Cleopatra's nose; a small thing with a huge influence

see Naples and die

Rome was not built in a day

there's no medicine for stupidity

murder will out

a bad person does not deserve to die in his own bed

a law is a law, however undesirable it may be

wearing light clothes for the sake of fashion

whatever will be, will be; things happen the way they happen; let nature take its course

the clothes do not make the man; the cowl does not make the monk

tread on a worm and it will turn; even a tiny bug will defend itself; even the weakest and smallest beings have their own wills, so do not make light of them

take care of the penny; he who makes fun of one sen will cry at one sen

faith will move mountains

something intended as a lie or joke which (by chance) ends up being true; lie turned truth

show me a liar, and I will show you a thief

there's no flying from fate; you can't fight fate

a neighbour is better than a relative living far

it's hard to tell a poor thinker from a sleeping one; they to whom only bad ideas come might as well be asleep; inadequate ideas are worse than none at all

poor speakers make long speeches; brevity is the soul of wit

both are bad; neither is good; one's as bad as the other; both are to blame; six of one, half a dozen of the other

what kind of business; what sort of matter

the greatest hate proceeds from the greatest love

there's no smoke without fire

be careful about fire; watch out for fire

poverty is a stranger to industry; diligence is the mother of good fortune

walk a mile in other's shoes to understand their suffering; you can't appreciate others' suffering until you've gone through it yourself; pinch yourself and know others' pain

turning to God only in one's trouble

to have a narrow view of things

nobody can win against advancing age

Everything depends on how you look at it

God only knows what may happen