Proverbs are well-known sayings that contain pearls of wisdom. They are common phrases or sayings that give advice and effectively embody a commonplace truth based on experience or common sense. They are short, simple, and widely used.
The witty phrases that the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria use on a daily basis have earned them a reputation. For Igbo and non-Igbo speakers, we have provided fifty Igbo proverbs with English translations of their meanings.
Proverbs from Igbo and their meanings:
1. Eze mbe si na ihe ya ji-achiri ihe egwu ya aga njem bu maka ya ezu ndiegwu. – The tortoise said that it always travels with its musical instrument in case it meets other musicians.
2. Ijiji na-enweghi onye ndumodu na-eso ozu ala n’inyi. – A fly that has no counselor follows the corpse to the grave.
3. Chọọ ewu ojii ka chi dị – Make hay while the sun shines
4. Eze mbe si na olu oha di mma, mana oriri oha na-aka ahu. – The tortoise said that many hands at work is enjoyable, but many mouths to feed can be embarrassing.
5. Ihe ehi hụrụ gbalaba oso ka okuku huru na-atụ onu – Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
6. Onye a kporo apari, o na-ehi n’amanna ya, abughi apari. – A presumed fool who sleeps in his father’s house is not a fool.
7. Si kele onye nti chiri; enu anughi, ala anu. – Salute the deaf; if the heavens don’t hear, the earth will hear.
8. Ebe onye dara ka chi ya kwaturu ya. – Where one falls is where his god pushed him down.
9. Agwo emeghi nke o jiri buru agwo, umuaka achiri ya hie nku. – If a snake fails to show its venom, little kids will use it in tying firewood.
10. Ewu nwuru n’oba ji abughi agu gburu ya. – A goat that dies in a barn was never killed by hunger.
11. A ma ka mmiri si were baa n’opi ugboguru? – Who knows how water entered into the stalk of the pumpkin?
12. Onye hapu onu ya, uguru arachaa ya. – If one fails to lick his lips, the harmattan will do it.
13. “Nwunye anyi, nwunye anyi”: ka ndeli bia ka anyi mara onye o bu nwunye ya. – “Our wife, our wife”: come midnight and we will know whose wife she really is.
14. Nwunye awo si na di atoka uto, ya jiri nuta nke ya kworo ya n’azu. – The female toad said that husband is so sweet that when she got married, she carried her husband permanently on the back.
15. Ugo chara acha adi(ghi) echu echu – A mature eagle feather will ever remain pure.
16. Nwaanyi muta ite ofe mmiri mmiri, di ya amuta ipi utara aka were suru ofe. – If a woman decides to make the soup watery, the husband will learn to dent the Garri before dipping it into the soup.
17. Onyeubiam adi(ghi) aza “Omeokachie.” – An indigent does not take the title of “Omeokachie” (i.e. one who completes whatever he puts his hand to)
18. A tuoro omara, o mara, a tuoro ofeke, o fenye ishi n’ohia. – If you tell a wise one, he understands; tell a dunce, he runs into the bush.
19. Otu onye tuo izu, o gbue ochu – Knowledge is never complete: two heads are better than one.
20. O na-abu a si nwata wuba ahu, o saba afo ya. – Tell a child to wash his body, he washes his stomach.
21. Akwukwo juru n’ohia, ma a baa a choba okazi. – There are various leaves in the bush, but people go in to look for okazi leaves.
22. Ihe di woro ogori azuala na ahia. – What was secret is revealed in the market place.
23. Ukpala gbabara n’ikpo okuko na-ala ala mmuo. – The grasshopper that runs into the mist of fowls ends up in the land of spirits.
24. Oge adighi eche mmadu – Time and tide wait for nobody.
25. Ndi na-eje mposi abali na-ahu ukpana ndi mmuo. – Those who defecate at night see the ghost grasshopper.
26. Nwata bunie nna ya enu, akpaamu ya ayochie ya anya. – If a child lifts his father, his scrotum will blindfold him.
27. A chuo aja ma a hughi udele, a mara na ihe mere be ndimmuo. – If the vulture fails to hover at the end of a sacrifice, then you know that something happened in the land of spirits.
28. Okuko si na ihe ya ji-ele anya n’enu ma ya na añu mmiri bu na ihe na-egbu si n’igwe abia. – The chicken says it looks up when drinking water because what kills it comes from the sky.
29. Gidi gidi bụ ugwu eze. – Unity is strength
30. Ura ga-eju onye nwuru anwu afo. – A dead person shall have all the sleep necessary.