Better a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof

jana.bo99

jana.bo99

Senior Member
Slovenia
Cro, Slo
We use it a lot in every day's life. I have seen than original comes from Czech Republic.

Croatian:

Bolje vrabac u ruci nego golub na krovu

Slovenian:

Bolje vrabec v roki kot golob na strehi

German:

Besser ein Spatz in der Hand als die Taube auf dem Dach

Here is going about our wish to get something good for us, but we get something worse (even by getting some man)

Do you have it in your language and how do you say it?

p.s. I was looking here, but didn't find.
 
    • Portuguese:

    Mais vale um pássaro na mão que dois a voar.
    A bird in your hand is worth more than two flying.
     
    Aramaic: טבא חדא ציפרא כפותא מן מאה פרחיין = tava khada tzifra kfuta min mea parkhein = better one tied bird than hundred flying.

    Yiddish: בעסער אַ האָן אין האַנט איידער אַן אָדלער אין הימל = besser a han in hant aider an adler in himmel = better a hen in hand than an eagle in the sky.

    Hebrew: טוב ציפור ביד משתיים על העץ = tov tzipor bayad mishtaim `al ha`etz = better a bird in hand than two on the tree.
     
    Ladino: מָאס וָאלֵי אוּן פָּאשָרוֹ אֵין לָה מָאנוֹ קֵי סְיֵין בּוֹלָאנְדוֹ = mas vale un pasharo en la mano que cien bolando = better a bird in hand than hundred flying.
     
    I don't know if it's the same. In Italian there is: meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani. (Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow)
     
    Youngfun said:
    I don't know if it's the same. In Italian there is: meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani. (Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow)
    Click to expand...

    We have a very similar one in Turkish:
    Bugünkü tavuk yarınki kazdan iyidir.    — (Today's chicken is better than tomorrow's goose)
     
    Swedish:
    Bättre en fågel i handen än tio i skogen     - better a bird in the hand than ten in the forest.
     
    You mean, it is better that you hold in your hand something real than watch them far from you! I can say this in Tagalog; Maigi na ang may tangan tangan (hawak hawak)sa kamay kaysa masdan silang marami na malayo naman sa iyo.
     
    Thank you, Mataripis, but please tells us also what would be the literal translation of the Tagalog saying...

    I had totally forgotten about the other thread. Thank you, Encolpius.
     
    Last edited:
    Encolpius said:
    we have had a similar topic here
    Click to expand...
    Sorry, but is totally different. There is going about any bird. Here are sparrow and pigeon. Sparrow is just a common bird and pigeon is something like a bird prince. If some woman is married (from any reason) and she is love with other man, whom she can't get, in that case people say: hold it what you have (sparrow) and don't dream about somebody you can't get (pigeon). Why nobody says: "better sparrow in the hand than crow on the roof".
    It is different value between sparrow and pigeon.
     
    The only saying in Swedish I can think of meaning being unsatisfied with what you have and wishing for something else is "Grannens gräs är alltid grönare", the neighbour's grass is always greener, we don't have anything mentioning birds.
     
    In French, the usual proverb is:
    "Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras", popularised by Jean de la Fontaine.
    Literally: a "here you are" is worth more than two "you'll get it"

    But I'm not sure it would work for everything though. Wouldn't work for a man I would say, where we could use:
    "Il faut se contenter de ce que l'on a" (literally: one must be content with what one has)
     
    In Spanish it's:

    Más vale pájaro en mano que cien(to) volando    .

    Literally: Better a bird in hand than a hundred flying.
     
    jana.bo99 said:
    ...Here are sparrow and pigeon. Sparrow is just a common bird and pigeon is something like a bird prince. If some woman is married (from any reason) and she is love with other man, whom she can't get, in that case people say: hold it what you have (sparrow) and don't dream about somebody you can't get (pigeon). Why nobody says: "better sparrow in the hand than crow on the roof".
    It is different value between sparrow and pigeon.
    Click to expand...
    The point is that a pigeon is edible ; one would need at least 10 sparrows to get a mouthful.
    Crow meat is mostly (90%) inedible, which is why nobody mentions crows in this context.
     
    Лучше синица в руках, чем журавль в небе.

    Better a tit in the hands than a crane in the sky.

    No sexist pun intended.:D It's about two birds.
     
    L'irlandais said:
    The point is that a pigeon is edible ; one would need at least 10 sparrows to get a mouthful.
    Crow meat is mostly (90%) inedible, which is why nobody mentions crows in this context.
    Click to expand...
    As a child (when my father was alive), I used to eat pigeon meat. It is not much meat, but enough for a child.
    Where he got them, I am not sure.
    I would never eat crow meat, from the simple reason, I don't like crows.
     
    In Persian:
    سیلی نقد به از حلوای نسیه
    sili e naqd beh az halva ie nesieh
    A cash slap in face is better than an on-credit sweet.
     
    In Ukrainian:
    Краща синиця в жмені, як журавель у небі /Better a tit in the handful than a crane in the sky/
    Кращий нині горобець, як завтра голубець /The best presently sparrow, as tomorrow pigeon/
    Близька соломка краща від далекого сінця /A near straw is better from a distant hay/
     
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