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Folk Sayings on Health
Italy - Pre 1969 or Around the World, Click here

Calabria, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Health -- Poverty -- by Region -- Calabria
     
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Se vvoi vivri sanu mangia pocu e camina jchianu.
      o in English: If you want to be healthy, eat little, walk slowly. N.B. If said with sarcasm, it might mean the direct opposite. So, it might mean if you don't have enough to eat, or you don't have the energy to walk fast (as you worked so hard in the fields), don't worry, as this will make you strong and healthy (Yeah sure it will!).
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #1158691

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Calabria, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Health -- Mental Health -- Unhappiness -- by Region -- Calabria
     
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Chi tutto vuole nulla stringe e di rabbia muore.
      o in English: Who wants everything gets nothing and then dies of rage.
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Cu' si menti chi fijjoli brisci cactu.
      o in English: Who deals with life like a small kid ends up waking up smelling of shit.
     
     
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #834503

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Calabria, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Health -- Hospitals -- by Region -- Calabria
     
      in Italian: (Dialect) Vaji u cerca a saluti o spitali.
      in English: (Literally) Go find your health in a hospital! (Meaning) When said sarcastically, the line possibly means the direct opposite (i.e. one goes to the hospital when one is ill, and often one remains ill rather than regains one's health there!).
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #50107

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Calabria, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Health -- Death -- by Region -- Calabria
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Quandu veni u nd'hai beni, o mori o peri.
      o in English: (Literally) When you start to feel good, death is near by. (Meaning: By the time you are financially secure, death is around the corner.
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The Library of Congress

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Calabria, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverb or Folk Saying on Health -- Bodily Functions -- by Region -- Calabria
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Ciucci, calavrisi e muli nun pisciano mai da suli.
      o in English: Donkeys, mules and Calabrese never pee alone [in the countryside].
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #74290

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Calabria, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Doctors -- by Region -- Calabria
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Quandu e tempu u si mori i medici trasunu ca benda.
      o in English: When it's your time to die, the doctor comes in with his eyes covered.
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) A duvi trasa ru suli nun trasa u miedicu.
      o in English: (Literally) Where the sun enters, the doctor does not enter. (Meaning) Where happiness reigns, doctors are not needed as people do not get sick.
     
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The New York Public Library, Digital Gallery #883059

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Campania, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Doctors (Negative) -- by Region -- Campania
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Mentre lu miedico studio lu malato more.
      o in English: While the doctor is studying [the case], the patient dies.
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Si vuo' perdere 'e denare, fatella cu l'avvucate. Si vuo' perdere 'e saluta, fatella cu 'e miedece.
      o in English: If you want to lose your money, go to lawyers. If you want to lose your health, go to doctors.
     
Contributed by: Image courtesy The Library of Congress #4815r

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Campania, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Italian Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Sickness and Health -- by Region -- Diseases -- Campania
     
      o in Italian: (Dialect) Malatie de femmene e zoppie de cani oggi se rompe e dumani se sana.
      o in English: (Literally) Women's diseases are like little dog wounds -- today they're open, tomorrow they're healed. (Meaning) Women might complain of being sick today, but by tomorrow they'll not be sick at all.
      .
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The Library of Congress #3b24183r

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Campania, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Italian Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Sickness and Health -- Preventive Medicine -- by Region -- Campania
     
      o in Italian (Dialect): 'Lieto 'e galera fanno l'ommo peggio che era.
      o in English: (Literally) Lying about in bed [all day] is like being in prison -- a person is the worse for it.
     
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The Library of Congress #3b15936r

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Emilia Romagna, Italy
Date: Centuries-old
Notes: Italian Proverbs or Folk Sayings on Health -- Preventive Medicine -- by Region -- Emilia Romagna
     
      o in Italian (Dialect): L'aqua la fa mel, e ven e fa cante.
      o in English: Water makes you feel bad, and wine makes you sing.
     
      o in Italian (Dialect): Al ven e la tatta di vec.
      o in English: (Literally) Wine is the milk of the old. (Meaning) Wine is to the old, as milk is to the young.
     
     
Contributed by: Image courtesy of The Library of Congress #3b48986r

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