Tsumo starting with W
Shona Proverbs
- Wabva gwindingwi / haachadyiwi namadzisheWhoever refuses to answer the chief's call or to work in his fields is made to pay a fine, and constant refusal eats away at a person's wealth.
- Wabvunza / watsvara mhosvaThe one who asks questions is the one who brings an offence out into the open. Blurting things out is what allows a crooked matter to be straightened, since exposing what is hidden is what settles a case.
- Wacho ndowacho / kuwanikwa nomumwe chinopinda napamweThe one marked out for misfortune keeps meeting it, while the same trouble simply passes on by when it falls to somebody else.
- Wadya imbwa / idya gonoIf you are going to eat a dog, let it be a male one.
- Wadya zai / wadya nhiyo yachoWhoever eats the egg has eaten the chick inside it too. Taking someone on means taking on everything and everyone attached to them, not just the obvious part.
- Wadzvova agutaA belch signals a full stomach; in the same way, someone who lets go of a thing he once loved does so because he has had his fill of it, and too much of anything ends in boredom and discontent.
- Wakagarika ngewakafa / mupenyu pfumo riri mushureOnly the dead are truly settled; for anyone still living, the spear of trouble is always close behind. The person of means enjoys security while the poor man is ground down by want, yet nobody lasts for ever like a stone.
- Wakanganwa chazuro ngehope.
- Wanzi baba / wada kamusha kakeHaving a homestead of his own is what a man has opted for once people call him father.
- Wapamba wepo guvhu rapadera.
- Warara / warara nomuromo wake. (M)One who is dead or asleep no longer has needs that concern us; it is the living who must keep working, because they are the ones who will need to eat. Nor should anyone let the idle hold them back from their own work.
- Wareva gotsi / wareva mamboTo speak ill of the back of someone's head as he walks away is to insult a chief. Once a person turns his back on the homestead or sets off on a journey, he has no way of knowing what goes on behind him.
- Watsindira bako / mvura ichanayaDo not turn on someone who helps you while you still depend on that help. Ingratitude towards a benefactor is foolish when the hard times are not yet behind you.
- Watungamira haatori nziraSomeone who goes ahead of others does not carry the road away with him, so there is no shame in asking about what you do not understand. Admitting ignorance and seeking advice is the surest route to knowledge.
- Wavaka musha / wavaka nzouTo raise a homestead is to have built something on the scale of an elephant. A man who has done it is settled, and he goes through life sure of himself.
- Wazarira bako / mvura ichada kunayaThe rain is still coming down, and already you have shut up the cave.
- Wegudza ndowegudza / kufuga gumbeze rinotsvaWhoever is destined for a bark blanket must make do with one; should he cover himself with a woollen blanket, it will end up burnt.
- Wenhamo haachatyi kufamba murimaSomeone who has already had his fill of hardship no longer fears what would frighten others, such as walking in the dark. Repeated suffering wears down fear until trouble simply feels like part of ordinary life.
- Wotofa uchidya chedemo. kuramba chebanga unofa uchichipanga.