Insoselo na Mapinda mu Chibemba (Idioms & Sayings)
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Kabusha takolelwe bowa
- Ichikalipa chumfwa umwine
- Umukulu tapusa kebo, apusa akabwe
- Umunwe umo tausala inda
- Uluse lwalile inkwale
- Ishuko lya munobe talyendelwa
- Lala nkukome tepatali
- umwana kasembe kakukoma wabula wakobeka
- pilikiti pilikiti tanasha kantu koma malemale
- Umulandu mume ba ukumpula fye
- Kwapa tachila kubeya
- Umweni wa kolwe alya uto kolwe alya
Introduction
- insoselo
- sayings
- mapinda
- proverbs
- mu
- in
- mung'anda
- in the house
- mumotoka
- in the car
Kabusha takolelwe bowa
There won't be bad consequences for asking questions. It's good to ask questions.
- Kabusha takolelwe bowa
- The person who asks a question is a fool for a minute and when you do ask questions not you're a fool for a lifetime.
- kabusha
- a person who is asking questions a lot
- takolelwe
- not to be drunk on
- bowa
- mushroom
- ukukolwa
- to be drunk
Ichikalipa chumfwa umwine
The bearer of the pain is the one feeling the pain.
Umukulu tapusa kebo, apusa akabwe
An old old man do not miss with a word but misses with a stone. It might come to pass if an older tells you something. He has experience. If he wants to throw a stone at you he might miss, because he/she is old and weak. Wise with words (won't miss) but ineffective with actions (miss).
- Umukulu
- the old people / erderly people
- tapusa
- doesn't miss
- kebo
- a word, a singular one
- apusa
- misses
- akabwe
- a small stone
Umunwe umo tausala inda
One hand can't pick a lice. You can't do things by yourself. You need other people.
- Umunwe umo
- one hand
- tausala
- can't pick
- inda
- lice
Uluse lwalile inkwale
Mercy ate the bird. Unwise mercy is dangerous.
- Uluse
- mercy
- lwaalile
- had eaten
- inkwale
- (type of a bird)
- ndelya
- I'm eating
- naliilya
- I ate (a long time ago)
- nindya
- I've eaten (recently, today)
- nkalya
- I will eat (tomorrow)
- nalalya
- I will eat later today
- ulelya
- You are eating
- alelya
- he/she is eating
- tulelya
- we are eating (plural)
- balelya
- they are eating
- Ninshi ulelya?
- what are you eating?
- Ninshi balelya?
- What are they eating?
- amataba
- corn / maise
- ubwali
- nshima
- amachungwa
- fruit
- nomba
- now
Ishuko lya munobe talyendelwa
You cannot ride on someone's luck. You cannot benefit from someone else's luck.
- Ishuko
- luck
- lya
- preposition for a person
- monube
- your friend
- talyendelwa
- to not move
Lala nkukome tepatali
Lie down I cut you, it won't be long. The night might be long, but definitely there will be dawn. If you're going through pain, endure it, it won't be long
- Lala
- sleeping
- nkukome
- "let me cut you"
- tepatali
- it won't be long
More about cutting
- akasembe
- axe
- chenjela nalakukoma
- careful, I might cut you
- kukoma
- to cut with a sharp object
- ulukasu
- hoe
- chenjela nalakukoma na ulukaso
- careful, I might cut you with a hoe
- chenjela nalakukoma na kasembe
- careful, I might cut you with an axe
umwana kasembe kakukoma wabula wakobeka
A child is like an axe, it cuts you, you (still) pick it up and care for it.
- umwana
- a child
- kasembe
- like an axe
- wabula
- pick up
- wakobeka
- on the shoulder
pilikiti pilikiti tanasha kantu koma malemale
It pays to be patient.
Umulandu mume ba ukumpula fye
a case can just come to you suddenly, without you looking for them.
- umume
- dew
- Umulandu mume
- a case can be like dew
- ukumpula fye
- can suddenly come to you
Kwapa tachila kubeya
The armpit cannot go beyond the shoulder. When you are young you're just young. You will never be old no matter what.
- kwapa
- one armpit
- tachila
- doesn't go beyond
- ukuchila
- to exceed
- amabeya
- shoulders
- ibeya
- shoulder
- kubeya
- shoulders
- amabeya
- shoulder
- amapeya
- shoulder
- mumapa
- in the armpits
- ukubeya
- to shave
- mukwapa
- in the armpit
- mumapa mulebaba
- itching in the armpits
- mukwapa mulebaba
- bayaama
- uncle
- mwaiche
- young one
- Chishinga
- it's true
Umweni wa kolwe alya uto kolwe alya
A visitor to a monkey eats what a monkey eats.
- Umweni
- visitor
- kolwe
- monkey
- ukulya
- eating
- alya
- eats
- uto
- what