A Proverb on Complicated Matters

This dough takes a lot of water.

Local Oral Tradition

Yes, it’s true. I took an unplanned break from posting for a number of months. I do apologize for going dark there for a while. I have truly missed writing though, so I hope that I am now making a return to regular posting again in earnest. However, the upside of this time away is that I now have a fresh crop of Central Asian proverbs! I know, you can barely contain your excitement.

I heard this particular proverb dropped during a question which touched on a complicated Bible passage. The speaker used it to indicate that the discussion required to unpack that topic would take a good deal of time – more than we had at that moment. Turns out this proverb on extra-absorbent dough can be used for all sorts of situations that involve lengthy discussion of complicated matters – or the intention to avoid such a discussion. It seems to function similarly to how English speakers use “it’s complicated.”

Tonight we are hosting the believing local men at our house for a Q&A session. “Bring your hardest and deepest questions,” we told them, “and we’ll work together to try to answer them from God’s word.” I do anticipate some tough and unexpected questions coming our way tonight. And just for fun, I will definitely try to sneak in this proverb if I get the chance.

Photo by Vaibhav Jadhav on Unsplash

8 thoughts on “A Proverb on Complicated Matters

  1. Actually, I do like local proverbs! I’m an ESL teacher who has also lived in Central Asia.

    Once I was teaching the English proverb “When the cat’s away, the mice will play” to Vietnamese students. I asked if they had a similar proverb in their country. The man thought for a minute and said, “When the fisherman is gone, the shrimp are dragons!”

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  2. First of all your posts have been very missed and I was so glad to see an email in my inbox this morning! Thank you for sharing the timely proverb, this being the start of the first harvest! I plan on using that saying a lot from now on, it’s catchy and appropriate for so many things. And on a sidenote, my husband really enjoys your posts from “How the Irish Saved Civilization”.

    I will be praying today that the Lord will give you and your team listening ears, compassionate hearts, knowledge, wisdom, and salt-seasoned speech. Would love to hear how it goes if you can reply tomorrow. God bless you all for sharing the greatest gift in the world. The most loving thing we can do is share the gospel. Praise be to God for His enduring Word!

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