• Two men hugging

    Martinique Creole proverbs

Born in the first half of the 17th century, the Creole language is a vibrant mosaic. The Amerindian heritage was supplemented by the dialects of French colonists, West Africans, and later Coolies from India and China. Contrary to popular belief, Creole proverbs are not words from the past, or “pawol an tan lontan” (words from the past) as they say in Martinique. Proverbs are immortal, eternal, and indispensable. As they say in Martinique: “Pa konnet mové” (It is bad not to know). Click on the title to read the moral.





                                        
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
Only the knife knows what is in the pumpkin.
You alone know your misery.

                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
The money stays where it is
Money goes to money. The richer one is, the more we can make money.

                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
It's money that makes the devil dance.
The number of people who appreciate someone increases with the money he has.

                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
It's when a fountain runs dry that you see the value of water.
We understand too late the importance of what we have lost.



                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
It is when one has no money that we know the value of a woman.
Poverty reveals the woman.

                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
It is only when you open your mouth you'll notice that your teeth are rotten.
We really knows someone only if that person demonstrated complete transparency.

                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
This is the robin in the tree that tells you what's going on at home.
This is often from the mouth of foreigners that we learn what happens at home.

                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
It's not when you have to pee to think the fact that you did not have fly.
Variant of proverb "A pa lè ou fen pou mété manjé si difé".



                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
It was the first grain of rain that made the corn growing.
You have to know how to be grateful.



                  

      

    

                                    
    

      

        
      

      

        

                      
This is according to the wind as the tail of chickens looks.
Refers to a fairly suggestible person.