He knows not a hawk from a hand-saw.
Meaning: Lacking discernment between predator and tool reveals ignorance of fundamental distinctions in one's world.
Origin: From Shakespeare's Hamlet (c. 1600). Hamlet, feigning madness, tells his old school friends that he is "but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." Some scholars think "handsaw" is a corruption of "hernshaw," a young heron, which would make both of them birds.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- One may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. — Risk harsh punishment equally for major wrongs or minor ones, so choose the bolder course.
- Where we least think, there goeth the hare away. — Prey escape through negligence; danger strikes when vigilance wavers at supposed safe mom…
- Little dogs start the hare, but great ones catch it. — Small efforts initiate opportunities, yet substantial power and persistence are required…
- Sell not the hare's skin before you have caught him. — Count your gains only after securing them; premature celebration invites disappointment a…
- Haste trips up its own heels. — Rushing blindly causes you to stumble over obstacles you might have avoided through delib…
- Haste over nothing but catching fleas. — Rushing accomplishes nothing worthwhile; only frantic, undignified scrambling matches hur…
From our tongue twisters
- Hinter Hermann Hannes Haus hängen hundert Hemden raus. — A relentless 'h' aspirate drill — every word opens with the same breathy attack.
- Tigre contro tigre, tigre contro un'altra tigre. — Pure 't/ig/re' drill — short and merciless; the double-g demands a crisp Italian stop.
- Apelle figlio di Apollo fece una palla di pelle di pollo e tutti i principi della città di Capua la palpeggiarono. — A wall of 'p/ll/l/a' that seems to grow longer as you speak it faster.