Igbo Proverbs And Their Meanings (inu Igbo)

I am an igbo girl
I am a confident, to-the-core, well rounded, proud and confirmed igbo girl.
I speak and write the langauge fluently. I love igbo names, i love igbo food, i love the intelligence and industriousness of the igbo people, i love the rich culture, i love the festivals. I love the sound of the flute
In igbo land, they say "Proverbs is the oil with which the igbo man eats words".
There are lots of proverbs in my language and they can be used to buttress points, explain things and sometimes even - make jokes.
Here are some of them - translated to english - and their meanings:


Egbe bere ugo bere, nke si ibe ya ebena nku kwaa ya (may both the eagle and the kite perch but if one does not want the other to perch, may his wings break).

Onye no n'ulo ya n'eche mmadu, ukwu anaghi eji ya (one who is in his house waiting for a visitor does not get tired or develop waist pain).

Onye nwe ozu n'ebu ya n'isi (the relative of the dead person is the person who carries the corpse at the head).

Onye a na agbara ama ya na anuri, onye eboro ohi okwere la (while you rejoice at the news from an informer remember that the accused has not admitted it).

Emee nwata ka emere ibe ya obi adi ya nma (treat a child as his peers were treated and he will be happy).

Kama m ga erijuo afo dachie uzo ka m buru onu (I will rather remain hungry than eat so much that I collapse on the roadside).

Nwata ruru ima akwa ma n'anu ara nne ya, gini ka anyi g'me ya? (what should we do to a child old enough to tie loin clothes if he continues to suck on his mother's bosoms?).

Oko kowa mmadu o gakwuru ibe ya, ma na oko kowa anu ohia o gaa n'akuku osisi (when a human itches, he goes to another human to scratch it, but when an animal itches, it goes to a tree).

Ji oso agbakwuru ogu amaghi na ogu bu onwu (one who runs to join a war does not realize that war is death).
"Will you kill some one you will also have to bury?" - will you hurt someone close to you
"An old woman is never too old to dance to the steps she knows how to dance" - No matter how long ago you stopped doing something, as long as you know how to do it well, you can always do it anytime
"You can only go round a pepper tree, you cannot climb it" - No matter how much effort you make, there are certain things you just cannot/will not do
"Money is in thorns" - There is no easy way to make money
"The water in the snail shell (the snail shell was used to give water to dogs in the days of old) is still waiting for the dog" - No matter how much you avoid your problems, they are still there waiting for you (so the earlier you face and thrash them the better)
"Conflict in the land is to the benefit of the chiefs" (cheifs have to keep the peace in the land at some fee) - Even when things are not going well, there are still people that benefit from the situation (Fuel subsidy removal as a case study)
"No matter the height of a kid goat, he still has to kneel down to suck the mother goat's bosoms" - You are never too big to respect your elders............................ In Arondizuoguian, a proverb goes thus: 'akpu ohu n'abo nkutuko nkutuko ya e nwe na nke kuwuru ibe ya'. Meaning: live and let live.