Sinhala (සිංහල)
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Type of FOS
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Literal / visual image
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Corresponding FOS in English
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What it really implies
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Additional Context
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125 values
කටුස්සාගේගෙලේ රත්තරන් පළඳුවා වගේ
[උපදේශ][සාහිත්‍ය][උපමා]
Like adorning the chameleon with a gold ornament
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To be very proud of having something
A king who had observed that a chameleon was in the habit of getting down a tree and saluting him whenever he was Seen, ordered a gold earring to be put on the chameleon’s ear. On the following day however, the chameleon instead of behaving towards the king as before, on Seeing him went up the tree and took no notice o...
කටේ කිරි සුවඳ ගියේ නැති
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
The smell of milk in mouth hasn't gone away.
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About young children who have not even reached adolescence
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කටේ නරිවාදන් රෙද්ද පල්ලෙන් පෙරෙනවා
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
The foolish talk of the mouth is leaking from the bottom of the cloth
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the disadvantages of not knowing how to control your mouth
Two men on a long journey stopped at a house to spend the night. While waiting for their rice to cook, they passed the time by looking up at the roof and counting the rafters, saying, "This one is Palmyra wood (thal-lee), and this one is Coconut wood (pol-lee)." One of the young women in the house had protruding teeth,...
කඩන්න බැරි මල බුදුන්ගේ නමට පූජා වෙච්චාවෙයි කීවා ලු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Like saying of the flower which cannot be plucked "Let it be offered to Buddha"
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කඩුල්ලත් එක්ක අමුඩෙ ගැහුවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Like the way in which a certain fool tied bis truss
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Doing something stupid
A certain person who had gone out to catch thieves sat on a stile and unconsciously tied his truss so as to get entangled in it. Being however unable to get away when he attempted to run after thieves, thinking that he held down by someone he cried out “Let me go! let me go!”
කඩුල්ලේ තරම දැන ගෙන කද බඳිනු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][විධාන]
Tie the pingo load knowing the size of the stile
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We should act wisely and think about the final results before doing something
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කඩුව රනින් වුවත් මරණය මරණය මයි
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Even if the sword is made of gold, death is still death.
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කඩුවට වඩා පෑන බලවත්
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
The pen is mightier than the sword.
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කණාගේ හැරමිටිය හැංගුවා සේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like hiding the blind man's walking stick
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To deprive someone of something essential to do something
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කණාට අහුවුනු බලු මැක්කෙක් වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like the dog-flea which the blind man has got hold of
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Caught steadily and firmly without any chance of escape
He cannot See what exactly it is and does not let it off for that reason
කණේ මී පැණි වක්කරන්නා වගේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Like pouring bee honey into the ear
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Praising a man highly within his hearing
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කණේ කොහොඹ මිරිකනවා වගේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Like squeezing Margosa (juice) into the ear
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Hearing something extremely unpleasant or harsh.
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කතා සරිත් සාගරය වගේ
[විශ්වාස][සාහිත්‍ය][උපමා]
Ocean filled with stories
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To be constantly engaged in or absorbed in friendly conversation or idle chatter.
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කන්ද කෙන්ද කරනවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like turning a mountain into a fiber
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trying to show society that something or someone important is unimportant by making fun of it.
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කන්දක් නැග්ගොත් පල්ලමක් ඇති ලු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
If you climb a mountain, there are valleys also
What Goes Up Must Come Down
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කන්දක් ඇර කන්දකට ගියාම දිවියාගේ තිත් මකේද?
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Although the leopard goes from one hill to another, will he change his spots?
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කන්න දුන්න අත සපා කන්නා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like biting the hand that gave to eat
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you
Forgetting the roots and opposing those who helped one's progress
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කන්න හිතුනම කබරගොයත් තලගොයා වෙනව ලු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
They say when one wants to eat, even the Water Monitor becomes a Land Monitor.
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When a need arises, even things that were initially opposed appear favorable
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කපන්න බැරි අත ඉඹිනවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
To kiss the hand that cannot be cut off
If you can’t beat them, join them
Accepting something unavoidable by pretending to like it, even if unwillingly
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කපාල අඳින මහත්තයෙක්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Wearing cut trousers instead of the uncut sarong
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කපුටන් හත් දෙනෙක් වමනේ කරපු කතාව වගෙයි
[විශ්වාස][කතා][උපමා]
Like the story where seven crows were vomited
Seven At One Blow
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කපුටු කූඩුවේ හැදුනත්, එකම ලෙසට පෙනුනත්, කොවුලා හඬින් හැඳිනිය හැක
[විශ්වාස][සාහිත්‍ය][වාර්තා]
Even if raised in a crow's nest, and even if they look the same, the cuckoo can be identified by its voice.
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Even though two people may look similar in external appearance, one can identify who is virtuous and who is wicked by their speech or actions
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කප් රුක තියෙන උතුරු කුරු දිවයිනේත් යක්ෂ බය තියෙනවා ලු
[විශ්වාස][සාහිත්‍ය][වාර්තා]
It is said that there is a fear of demons even in the Uttara Kuru island where the Kapruka tree exists.
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There is no place anywhere in the world that is complete in all aspects
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කප්රුකේ කපුටෝ කූඩු හදන්නේ නැහැ
[විශ්වාස][සාහිත්‍ය][නිශේධ]
Crows do not build nests on the kapruka tree
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Bad people do not come to a high or good place.
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කබරයාට තලනවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like beating a water monitor.
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Giving a useless punishment
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කබරු අන්ජිලා මාලු කෑවේ කවද ද?
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රශ්න]
When did “Kabaragoyas/Monitors” eat “Anjila” fish?
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When did “Kabaragoyas/Monitors” eat “Anjila” fish?
කබලෙන් ලිපට පැන්නා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like jumping from the frying pan into the hearth
Confusion Worse Confounded
To say that one has fallen into an even worse difficulty while already being in a difficulty.
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කම්මලේ බල්ලා වගේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර][උපමා]
Like the dog in the blacksmith's shop
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Life becomes accustomed to it due to the constant arrival of troubles
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කම්මැලියාට දිවැස් ලු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
The sluggard has the gift of prophecy
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කයිමන් දොරකොඩ වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like Kaiman's Gate
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Wide open
Kaiman's Gate is a place located in the northern part of Colombo, and it is used in common usage to speak about a place that has more space than the required amount.
කරත්ත රෝදෙට අහුවුන කජු ලෙල්ලක් වගේ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර][උපමා]
Like a cashew husk caught under a cart wheel
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කරත්තෙට බැන්ද ගොනා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like the bullock bound to a cart
Packhorse
The one who pulls the load
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කරත්තේ බැන්ද ගමන්
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
While tied to the cart
In Harness
While engaged in a job or a task
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කරවල වෙළඳාමේ ඇවිත් සුදු සඳුන් වල ගණන් කුමට ද?
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රශ්න]
What has the seller of dry fish to do with the price of sandalwood?
Let the cobbler stick to his last
To do what one is familiar with, experienced in, or skilled at, rather than trying something different and risking failure
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කරු අඳේට අඬනවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like crying for the Karu Ande
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When crying because others are crying
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කරු අඳේට අමුඩේ ගහනවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like tying the loincloth for the Karu Ande
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When preparing to do something half-heartedly while hesitating
There are two Ande methods; namely, Hari Ande and Karu Ande. If working on Hari Ande, the farmer receives half of the harvest, while if working on Karu Ande, one receives a quarter portion of the harvest. That is because the Karu Ande person farms with another partner.
කරුපන් ෂෙට්ටි නැතිවට කම් නැහැ කරුපයියා නමම හොඳයි
[විශ්වාස][කතා][වාර්තා]
It does not matter if Karupan Chetty is not there; the name Karuppaiya itself is good
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There was a cattle herder named Karupan, and one day he found a treasure under a rock. The next day, when the employer addressed him saying "Ade Karupan," and when he said "I do not like the word Ade," the employer addressed him as Karupan from then on. On the second day, when addressed as Karupan, he said, "Why do you...
කල දුටුදා වළ ඉහින්නා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like emptying the pit in the nick of time
Make hay while the sunshine
Taking advantage of it when the opportunity arrives
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කලකදි වහලු කලකදි රහ ලු
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Poison at one time, tasty at another
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Enemy parties at one time becoming friendly at another time.
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කලු කපුටා සුදු වන තුරු බලා සිටියා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like waiting until the black crow turns white.
Waiting till the cows come home
Waiting until a better time comes.
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කලු ගලේ ඔලුව ගහ ගන්නවා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like bashing one's head against a black rock
Kick against the pricks
A big loss occurs to the weak person by going to clash with a powerful person
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කලු ද සුදු ද දන්නේ නැහැ
[වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Don't know if black or white
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Have never seen
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කලු නික හොයන්නා වගේ
[විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Like searching for Black Nika
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A thing that cannot be obtained
Nika, a medicinal shrub (Vitex negundo); it is the folklore that Black Nika is a rare plant species producing black colored leaves and flowers
කලුන්දෑත් බිසෝ වුණා ලු
[උපදේශ][කතා][වාර්තා]
It is said that even Kalunda became a Queen
A cat may look at a king
One can look at high people disregarding social status
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