Common Sinhala idioms and proverbs with their figurative meanings explained, for an upper-level learner. Front: the Sinhala idiom or proverb (with romanization). Back: literal meaning and figurative meaning.
About this set
32 basic cards for Idioms Sinhala. It opens with "කන කොටත් නෑ, බොන කොටත් නෑ (Kana kotath ne, bona kotath ne)" and "බල්ලට කන්දක් නැති වගේ (Ballata kandak nathi wage)". More Sinhala at other levels is listed below.
32 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- කන කොටත් නෑ, බොන කොටත් නෑ (Kana kotath ne, bona kotath ne)
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Not there when eating, not there when drinking; describes someone who avoids helping but shows up only for benefits- බල්ලට කන්දක් නැති වගේ (Ballata kandak nathi wage)
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Like a dog with no mountain to guard; describes someone acting without purpose or direction- ඇඟේ රත්තරං තිබ්බත් රත්තරං බව නොපෙනේ (Ange ratharan thibbath ratharan bawa nopene)
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Even with gold on the body, the gold does not show; a saying about hidden or unrecognized worth- වචනයෙන් ගසපු තුවාලයට බෙහෙතක් නෑ (Wachanayen gaspu thuwalayata behethak ne)
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There is no medicine for a wound cut by words; a proverb about the lasting hurt caused by harsh speech- බුදුන් වහන්සේටත් හිතුවක්කාරයෝ හිටියා (Budun wahanseta wath hithuwakkarayo hitiya)
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Even the Buddha had critics; a saying meaning no one can please everyone- දිය නොපෙනී ගඟ තරණය කරන්න එපා (Diya nopeni ganga tharanaya karanna epa)
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Do not cross a river without seeing the water; a proverb warning against acting without checking the situation first- බෙල්ල උස්සනවා (Bella ussanawa)
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Literally to raise the neck; means to become proud or arrogant- කට රත් වෙනවා (Kata rath wenawa)
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Literally the mouth becomes hot; means to argue heatedly- ඇස් පිය නොගසා (As piya nogasa)
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Literally without blinking the eyes; means watching very closely and attentively- බඩ පිච්චෙනවා (Bada picchenawa)
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Literally the stomach burns; means to feel jealous of someone else's success- හිත හොඳයි (Hitha hondai)
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Literally the heart is good; describes a kind-hearted person- බෙල්ලෙන් අල්ලනවා (Bellen allanawa)
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Literally to grab by the neck; means to catch someone red-handed- අත උස්සනවා (Atha ussanawa)
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Literally to raise the hand; means to give up or surrender- කන් දෙකට ගානවා (Kan dekata ganawa)
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Literally to rub into both ears; means to keep repeating advice to someone- ඇහැට කණට වදිනවා (Ahata kanata vadinawa)
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Literally to strike the eye and ear; means to be very obvious or noticeable
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