There are around 100 identifiable idioms in the scene (although Bruegel may have included others). Some are still in use today, amongst them: "swimming against the tide", "big fish eat little fish", "banging one's head against a brick wall" and "armed to the teeth", and there are some that are familiar if not identical to the modern English usage, such as "casting roses before swine". Many more have faded from use or have never been used in English, "having one's roof tiled with tarts" for example which meant to have an abundance of everything and was an image Bruegel would later feature in his painting of the idyllic Land of Cockaigne. The Blue Cloak referred to in the painting's original title is being placed on the man in the centre of the picture by his wife. This was indicative that she was cheating on him. Other proverbs indicate mankind's foolishness: a man fills in a pond after his calf has died, just above the central figure of the blue-cloaked man another man carries daylight in a basket. Some of the figures seem to represent more than one figure of speech (whether this was Bruegel's intention or not is unknown), such as the man shearing a sheep in the centre bottom left of the picture. He is sat next to a man shearing a pig, so represents the expression "one shears sheep and one shears pigs" meaning that one has the Patrice Stanley Cup Finals jerseys advantage over the other, but he may also represent the advice "shear them but don't skin them" meaning make the most of your assets.
Expressions featured in the painting
Proverb
Meaning
Location
To even be able to tie the devil to a pillow
Obstinacy overcomes everything
To be a pillar-biter
To be a religious hypocrite
To carry fire in one hand and water in the other
To be two-faced and to stir up trouble
To bang one's head against a brick wall
To try to achieve the impossible
One foot shod, the other bare
Balance is paramount
The sow pulls the bung
Negligence will be rewarded with disaster
To bell the cat
To be indiscreet about plans that should be secret
To be armed to the teeth
To be heavily armed
To be an iron-biter
To be boastful/ indiscreet
One shears sheep, the other shears pigs
One has all the advantages, the other none
Shear them but do not skin them
Do not press your advantage too far
The herring does not fry here
Things do not go according to plan
To fry the whole herring for the sake of the roe
To do too much to achieve a little
To get the lid on the head
To end up taking responsibility
The herring hangs by its own gills
You must accept
There is more in it than an empty herring
There is more to it than meets the eye
What can smoke do to iron?
There is no point in trying to change the unchangeable
To find the dog in the pot
To arrive too late to prevent trouble
To sit between two stools in the ashes
To be indecisive
To be a hen feeler
To count one's chickens before they hatch
The scissors hang out there
They are liable to cheat you there
To always gnaw on a single bone
To continually talk about the same subject
It depends on the fall of the cards
It is up to chance
The world is turned upside down
Everything is the opposite of what it should be
Leave at least one egg in the nest
Always have something in reserve
To shit on the world
To despise everything
To lead each other by the nose
To fool each other
The die is cast
The decision is made
Patrice Stanley Cup Finals jerseys />Fools get the best cards
Luck can overcome intelligence
To look through one's fingers
To be indulgent
There hangs the knife
To issue a challenge
There stand the wooden shoes
To wait in vain
To stick out the broom
To have fun while the master is away
To marry under the broomstick
To live together without marrying
To have the roof tiled with tarts
To be very wealthy
To have a hole in one's roof
To be unintelligent
An old roof needs a lot of patching up
Old things need more maintenance
The roof has lathes
There could be eavesdroppers (The walls have ears)
To have toothache behind the ears
To be a malingerer
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