Words spoken in an evening the wind carrieth away.
Meaning: Careless evening talk dissolves into irrelevance like dispersed wind, so thoughtless words lack lasting consequence.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Communication
- Fair words will not keep a cat from starving. — Flattery and pleasant speech cannot substitute for concrete necessities like food and sur…
- Good words cool more than cold water. — Kind speech soothes anger and distress more effectively than external comfort ever could.
- Good words fill not a sack. — Eloquent speech alone cannot sustain you; you need material provisions and practical acti…
- Many words will not fill a bushel. — Excessive talk produces nothing tangible; abundance of speech cannot substitute for concr…
- Soft words hurt not the mouth. — Gentle speech costs nothing to speak and risks no harm through careless words.
- Wounds may heal, but not those made by ill words. — Physical injuries fade while harsh speech leaves permanent emotional scars impossible to…
From our compliments & insults
- Espèce de patate — You dim bulb — a potato being the very picture of inert, unthinking stodginess.
- Quel râleur / quelle râleuse — You never stop moaning — everything is a complaint, nothing is ever good enough.
- Peau de vache — A mean, difficult, and unpleasant person — tough and unyielding like tanned hide.