ProverbChallenge
American origin1916
American origin1916The road less traveled makes all the difference
Meaning: Unconventional choices often lead to the most meaningful outcomes.
Origin: A paraphrase of the end of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" (1916): "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." Frost wrote it partly as a gentle joke about his friend the poet Edward Thomas, who on country walks always regretted the path they hadn't taken. The poem is more ambiguous than the proverb: its speaker admits both paths were really about the same.
Equivalents in Japanese
Japanese: 人の行く裏に道あり花の山 (Hito no yuku ura ni michi ari hana no yama) (literally: Behind where people go, there is a mountain of flowers)
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Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- És uma joia You're a gem — a precious, lovely person.
- Sei un salame You're a clumsy, dopey softie — said with a smile.
- Eres más corto que las mangas de un chaleco You're not the sharpest — a bit slow on the uptake.
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