Proverbs
About Proverbs
Proverbs is a quick "complete the saying" game. A well-known proverb appears in your language with one word blanked out · you pick the word that finishes it from a short list of options. "Don't cry over spilled ___" · milk. "Better late than ___" · never. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the ___" · bush. After each pick the full saying is shown.
Native sayings, not translations. Each locale plays its own well-known proverbs, not literal translations from English. The Swedish version asks for "Gråt inte över spilld ___", the German for "Es ist nicht alles ___, was glänzt", the French for "Qui se ressemble s'___", and so on. That matters because proverbs encode each culture's habits of thought · translating "the early bird gets the worm" word-for-word into another language usually produces something nobody actually says.
Distractors stay in register. Harder rounds add more answer options · three to six. The wrong options are real words pulled from the other proverbs in the pool, so the distractors read as plausible saying-words rather than random nouns. You can't eliminate by surface oddness · you have to know the saying.
Why proverbs are worth learning. They're cultural shortcuts. Knowing the proverbs of a language lets you understand allusions in news, jokes, and everyday conversation that otherwise pass you by · "the cobbler's children" reference, the "stone-skipping" idiom, the agricultural metaphors that survive in industrial-era languages. The pool starts with the most universal sayings (the ones shared across cultures) and grows toward more locale-specific ones.
Part of the PlayMemorize family of brain-training games. Runs entirely in your browser, works offline as a Progressive Web App.
FAQ
Q: How does a round work?
A familiar proverb is shown with one word replaced by a blank. You pick the missing word from three to six options; the wrong options are real words taken from the other sayings in the pool, so the choice is not trivial.
Q: Are the proverbs in my language?
Yes · each locale uses its own well-known sayings, not a literal translation of an English list. The Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and other locale pools each draw from that language's actual proverb canon. For a few locales the wording is still being refined by native speakers.
Q: Why not translate the English sayings?
Because most proverbs don't translate. "The early bird gets the worm" word-for-word in French ("l'oiseau matinal attrape le ver") is grammatical but nobody says it · the French equivalent is "l'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt". Each locale plays the sayings actual speakers grew up hearing.
Q: How many proverbs are there?
The pool starts small with the most universal sayings (the dozen-or-so that have direct equivalents across most languages) and is designed to grow with locale-specific additions. A "what does this saying mean?" explainer mode and country / category filters are on the roadmap.
Q: Does it work offline?
Yes. PlayMemorize is a Progressive Web App. Install once and Proverbs works without an internet connection.
