[ESP/ENGL] Cinco sabios refranes venezolanos (Número 46) // Five wise Venezuelan sayings (Number 46)

Creo que éste no es un dicho solo venezolano, si no de carácter más universal y lo oigo y utilizo en varias oportunidades; especialmente cuando se presentan casos en que una persona que no tiene absolutamente ninguna vinculación con un asunto específico, se pone de parte un bando o de otro; es decir, toma partida en una pelea sin ser parte de ella, sin tener una visión concreta y real de la situación, sino que se encuentra sesgada su opinión, bien sea por un chisme, calumnia o información distorsionada. Por tal razón, antes de involucrarte en una pugna que realmente no te afecta directamente ni en la cual estás involucrado, piensa con detenimiento si no estarás peleando peleas ajenas. Hacerlo realmente no vale el riego, ni el esfuerzo, ni el tiempo, ni la energía invertidos.

4) “No seas tonto útil.”

Del anterior refrán, salto a este, pues ambos se complementan, y es preciso indicar que también lo utilizo con frecuencia. Ser tonto útil es similar a “ser escalera de otro”, o sea, servir a los intereses de alguien más, ser utilizado para el beneficio de un tercero sin que sepas o te des cuenta de lo que estás haciendo; de allí que señale la complementariedad existente entre ambos refranes.

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5) “Es mucha la totuma, para tan poca agua.”

Una totuma es un recipiente, hecho de una calabaza hueca partida a la mitad, a modo de cuenco. Así que cuando se emplea este refrán se quiere decir que no vale la pena el esfuerzo para la ganancia que se obtendrá, o que una situación o persona, es algo insignificante para otra. Es como el dicho aquel: “Es mucho camisón para Petra”.

ENGLISH

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Time is moving fast and we are already ending the first week of July 2022; the atmosphere is different, it is like a vacation, without students going to schools and institutes. The rains continue intermittently, which I am grateful for, since my plants continue to sprout, and even those that had not flowered, as is the case of the mandarins, are already in that process or are with small fruits.

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So, today is a good day to come back with my series “Five Wise Venezuelan Sayings”, in this case number 46. These publications, which I do regularly, are already heading for two years, and with a certain regularity (weekly, fortnightly or monthly), I share five Venezuelan proverbs on the platform, in order to preserve and spread this knowledge, which, in my opinion, is valuable and useful. As always, I clarify and say: The proverbs presented here are NOT my authorship, but are part of the Venezuelan cultural heritage (whether local, regional or national), and these are transmitted by oral tradition, which allows me meet some of them. On the other hand, I consult specialized bibliography, which is reviewed at the end of this post; however, the presentation and analysis or explanation of each proverb is absolutely mine. That said, I invite you to read this post and if you like, you can see other Venezuelan sayings in the links I share at the end of this post.

1) “The nosy does not die at home.”

A nosy (entrépito) is a person who loves to interfere in the lives of others, without being given that right, that is, he does it on his own initiative. So, when this saying is used, what is intended is to advise being prudent and not interfering in other people's affairs, as a bad result can be achieved, even death.

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2) “Who has a straw tail, does not get close to the fire.”

This means that whoever has faults similar to those he wants to criticize, better shut up and say nothing, because what he is criticizing suffers from it too. It's similar to the saying: “He who has glass roof tiles, don't throw stones at his neighbor,” so it's best to be prudent and not criticize others.

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3) “Don't fight other people's fights.”

I believe that this is not just a Venezuelan saying, but a more universal one, I have heard it and have used it on several occasions; especially when there are cases in which a person who has absolutely no connection with a specific issue takes one side or the other; that is, they take part in a fight without being part of it, without having a concrete and real vision of the situation, but their opinion is biased, either by gossip, slander or distorted information. For this reason, before getting involved in a fight that does not really affect you directly or in which you dont are involved, think carefully if you will not be fighting other people's fights. Doing it really isn't worth the risk, the effort, the time, or the energy invested.

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4) “Don't be a useful fool.”

From the previous saying, I jump to this one, since both complement each other, and it is necessary to indicate that I also use it frequently. Being a useful fool is similar to “being someone else's ladder”, that is, serving the interests of someone else, being used for the benefit of a third party without you knowing or realizing what you are doing; hence it points out the complementarity between both proverbs.

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5) “There is a lot of totuma (bowl), for so little water.”

A totuma is a container, made of a hollow gourd cut in half, like a bowl. So when this saying is used, it means that it is not worth the effort for the gain that will be obtained, or indicates that a situation or person is something insignificant for another. It's like the old saying: “It's a lot of nightgown for Petra”.

Queridos lectores, seguidamente coloco los links de las 45 primeras publicaciones, por si las quieren leer:/

Dear readers, below I place the links of the first 45 posts, in case you want to read them:

• Primera Parte / First Part:

• Segunda Parte / Second Part:

• Tercera Parte / Third Part:

• Cuarta Parte / Fourth Part:

• Quinta Parte / Fifth Part:

• Sexta Parte / Sixth Part:

• Séptima Parte / Seventh Part:

• Octava Parte / Part Eigth:

• Novena Parte / Ninth part:

• Décima Parte / Tenth part:

• Décima Primera Parte / Eleventh part:

• Décima Segunda Parte / Twelfth part:

• Décima Tercera Parte / Thirteenth part:

• Décima Cuarta Parte / Fourteenth Part

• Décima Quinta Parte / Fifteenth Part

• Décima Sexta Parte / Seventeenth part

• Décima Séptima Parte / Seventeenth part

• Décima Octava Parte /Part eighteenth

• Décima Novena Parte / Part Nineteen

• Vigésima Parte / Part twentieth

• Vigésima Primera Parte / Twenty-First Part

• Vigésima Segunda Parte / Twenty-Second Part

• Vigésima Tercera Parte / Twenty-Third Part

• Vigésima Cuarta Parte / Twenty-fourth Part

• Vigésima Quinta Parte / Twenty-fifth Part

• Vigésima Sexta Parte / Twenty-sixth Part

• Vigésima Séptima Parte / Twenty-seventh Part

• Vigésima Octava Parte / Twenty-eighth Part

• Vigésima Novena Parte /Twenty-ninth part

• Trigésima Parte / Thirtieth Part

• Trigésima primera Parte / Thirty-first part

• Trigésima segunda Parte / Thirty-second part

• Trigésima tercera Parte / Thirty-third part

• Trigésima Cuarta Parte // Thirty-fourth Part

• Trigésima Quinta Parte // Thirty- fitht part

• Trigésima Sexta Parte // Thirty- sixth part

• Trigésima Séptima Parte // Thirty-seventh part

• Número 38 // Number 38

• Número 39 // Number 39

• Número 40 // Number 41

• Número 41 // Number 41

• Número 42 // Number 42

• Número 43 // Number 43

• Número 44 // Number 44

• Número 45 // Number 45

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Fuentes Bibliográficas / Bibliographical sources:

• Víctor Vera Morales. (Agosto 2004). Refranes y Comidas de Venezuela. Editado por el Instituto Municipal de Publicaciones de la Alcaldía de Caracas.

• Santos Erminy Arismendi. (2006). Refranes que se oyen y dicen en Venezuela. Cadena Capriles, Caracas. Venezuela.

Fuentes de las imágenes / Image sources:

• Fotos de mi autoría, tomada con un teléfono REDMI 8A, intervenida con WordArt / Photos of my authorship, taken with a REDMI 8A telephone, intervened with WordArt.

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• Los diseños incluidos en esta publicación, han sido elaborados por mi persona con la aplicación CANVA / The designs included in this publication has been made by me with the CANVA application.

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En caso de que se requiera emplear el contenido o imágenes de este post y de mis otras publicaciones, agradecería se hiciera referencia a mi autoría (Fabiola Martínez) y se citara el link correspondiente. Gracias.

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In the event that it is required to use the content or images of this post and my other publications, I would be grateful if my authorship (Fabiola Martínez) was made and the corresponding link was cited. Thank you.

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