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There is a proverb in Urdu language which translates to "gesture for wise, stick for fool". We use it to mean that a gesture is enough for a wise person, he will understand only by gesture and fool is foolish, he will understand only when he is beaten.

Is there an English alternative for this proverb?

Thanks in advance.

Decapitated Soul
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    Fools rush in where angels fear to tread? – Decapitated Soul May 19 '20 at 09:45
  • That is an interesting proverb – when did it enter Urdu? I suspect the influence of English from the British Raj and Christianity. It seems to mirror the Bible (KJV) at Proverbs 26:3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. In this, “a whip” is a short rod of flexible leather used by the rider – not a long whip used by coachmen. The whip and the bridle are relatively painless because the animals are easily guided. The proverb is currently very rare in English, but then all proverbs seem to be dying out. – Greybeard May 19 '20 at 09:57
  • @Greybeard I don't know when did it enter Urdu but I have heard it my whole life. It is very common. And when someone is doing something foolish, we use this proverb to tell them that they should be aware of their deeds. –  May 19 '20 at 10:05
  • @Greybeard your "whip for horse----" is a nice proverb. I think you should write it as answer –  May 19 '20 at 10:08
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    Proverbs 17:10 spells it out even more clearly: 'A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person than a hundred blows into a fool.' [NRSV: BibleGateway] As given at the related thread a word to the wise. – Edwin Ashworth May 19 '20 at 10:59
  • Thanks, Titan. For those of us who speak no Urdu, are you clearly stating "gesture for wise, stick for fool" is a direct translation, or what? – Robbie Goodwin May 19 '20 at 19:56
  • @RobbieGoodwin "gesture for wise, stick for fool" is the direct translation of the Urdu idiom. And "We use it to mean that a gesture is enough for a wise person, he will understand only by gesture and fool is foolish, he will understand only when he is beaten." –  May 22 '20 at 16:43
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    @Titan I'm not really doubting you and I do hope for clarity.

    "A gesture for the wise, a stick for a fool" would work but do you see the huge difference there?

    "Gestures for wise people, sticks for fools" would work…

    Various other options might work and in English, "gesture for wise, stick for fool" would always be understood but it would also always be wrong.

    That means if it really is the best translation, the two languages are so different there could never be a direct translation. Is that what you're saying?

     – Robbie Goodwin May 22 '20 at 18:07
  • @RobbieGoodwin Yes. Sorry for confusing you. English is my second language that's why I wrote it incorrectly. Thanks for explaining! –  May 23 '20 at 11:07
  • @Titan, thanks and did you notice how closely my query stems from the same thing you just did, dropping the articles from both Greybeard's excellent "A whip for the horse…" and your own "write it as answer…"? What does that say about direct translation? – Robbie Goodwin May 24 '20 at 12:37

2 Answers2

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A word to the wise is enough: Someone who is wise heeds a warning or a piece of advice, even if it is very brief. The shorter phrase, "a word to the wise," is more common.

— TFD

A word to the wise is usually employed as a discreet warning in which the ‘word’ is very brief—either the utterance which immediately follows or this utterance itself.

A word to the wise—Paul knows. A word to the wise—

The sense is “I need say no more than a word to alert you—you’re smart enough to understand what I leave unsaid.”

— ELU (not a duplicate)

Decapitated Soul
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To the good listener, half a word is enough.

This is similar to an existing answer, although actually different in emphasis.

Despite the fact that I find it at several places, I'm having difficulty coming up with a definitive attribution for it. Quotes claims that it's a Danish proverb, but Illustrated World of Proverbs indicates it's Spanish in origin.

Jason Bassford
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