#mexican proverbs

A parrot is green anywhere.

Proverbio español / Spanish Proverb:

"Algo es algo; menos es nada."

Meaning:

"Something is something; less is nothing. [It's better than nothing. Half a loaf is better than none.]" (ThoughtCo.)

or...

"Half a loaf is better than no bread." (CogWeb)

Usage:

"When something isn't quite what you need, or you hear someone complaining about something that isn't quite up to the standards they were hoping for, you can use this phrase." (Twitter.com/IdiomsinSpanish)

Vocabulario inglés-español / English-Spanish Vocabulary:

algo pronoun = something, anything, somewhat

es verb = (he/she/it/one) is

algo es algo (por lo menos)* = it's better than nothing expression

peor es nada (Latin America) = it’s better than nothing

menos adjective = less, fewer

nada pronoun = nothing, (not) at all

*por lo menos = at least (phrase)

3 Bonus Ways to Say "It's better than nothing" in Spanish

"Más vale algo que nada."

Translation: "Something is worth more than nothing."

English equivalent: "Better a lean jade than an empty halter."

Meaning: "It is better to have an insufficient version of something inherently desirable than nothing at all."

(Spanish proverbs - Wikiquote)

"Algo es algo, peor es nada, y algo vale más que nada / Algo es algo / Vale más algo que nada."

Translation or Interpretation: "Something is something, nothing is worse, and something is worth more than nothing."

Context: "What this means is that when you find yourself with very few of something you wanted a lot of, you should be glad to have a little and not any at all."

(A Dictionary of Mexican American Proverbs)

Sources, Credits and Further Reading:

https://www.thoughtco.com/more-spanish-proverbs-3079512

http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Discourse/Proverbs/Spanish-English.html

https://mobile.twitter.com/IdiomsInSpanish/status/568719206503600128

PDF book: "A Frequency Dictionary of Spanish: Core Vocabulary for Learners"

https://es.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/spanish-english/algo

https://www.powerthesaurus.org/somewhat/synonyms

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/es#Verb_13

This post includes text from the Wiktionary entry, “es - Wiktionary”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution license, CC By-SA 3.0.

The License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

About CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=algo

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/por-lo-menos

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/peor-es-nada

https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Spanish_proverbs

This post includes text from the Wikiquote page, “Spanish proverbs - Wikiquote”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution license, CC By-SA 3.0.

The License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

About CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100215192152AAcKL1f&guccounter=1

He who gets close to a good tree will find a nice shade for shelter.

“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” ~ Mexican Proverb

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