People began to use proverbs in order to express their thoughts more clearly. When we try to explain complicated things to another person, we always use comparisons that he can understand. Some of them were so successful and understandable that they began to be used often and were included in the list of proverbs, for example: "Do not know the ford, do not pop into the water." Its meaning is so simple that even children understand what is at stake.
The direct meaning of the expression
Today, the word ford is practically not used in everyday life, it is connected with the life of modern society. Wade is a shallow water through which you can safely cross a river. Well, where will modern people cross the river in this way? In cities, a bridge has been laid across each of them, and if it is not there, it will not occur to many to cross the water on the other side.
It was necessary to make such movements before, but people knew that it was dangerous to do this in unfamiliar places. That is why they literally understood the phrase: “Do not know the ford, do not poke your head in the water,” because you could get into trouble.
Modern understanding of the proverb
To use a proverb to a place, you need to understand what it means. And you can apply it in different situations. If you want to warn a person that without knowledge and certain skills it’s not worth starting a certain business, they tell him: you don’t know ford, do not poke into the water, which means not to do what you don’t understand. Some do not agree with this statement, believing that sometimes you need to do something that you do not know and have not done before. But here it’s not a bit about that. All our life we have to do something from time to time for the first time, which we did not do before and do not know how. The second wording sounds: without asking ford, do not poke into the water. This does not mean that you should not go into it at all, but only that you should prepare for this matter and ask those who have already been there or know what they are talking about.
We cannot be competent in everything, but when we say: do not know the ford, do not poke into the water, we mean not to get down to business without preliminary preparation, without knowledge and skills. Before you start something, you need to understand the essence, find out the nuances and details, talk with knowledgeable people, in general, prepare.
If you don’t know the details, don’t interfere.
A proverb can be used in a different sense. You don’t know ford, don’t pop into the water they say to people when they are trying to judge a situation without knowing the details. Often we have to hear conversations when someone condemns someone’s actions or relationships. And he judges the situation superficially, because he does not know what is really happening in the relationship. In such cases they say: do not know the ford, do not poke into the water. Keeping in mind: you do not know the true state of affairs, do not intervene and do not judge what is happening.
This proverb is used in different works, and you will not find its application anywhere in the literal sense, because it is relevant precisely for comparison, in order to clearly show that to start a business in which you do not understand anything is risky, it may end in failure . It is not worth doing anything in a business that you know nothing about, because in the end you can get quite what you expected. In any undertakings, it’s worth calculating and finding out where the ford is, on which you can go over difficult moments. Problems also should not be solved in a hurry, you need to figure out where the most successful exit is and use it.