Portuguese proverbs about red hair

We have already seen in this post two Portuguese proverbs about red hair. I will copy and paste them below and I will add more of them. Many of them are about the notorius red-bearded man, 😁 while others are similar to Spanish/Italian/French proverbs. 

- Se o grande fosse valente, o pequeno paciente e o ruivo leal, todo o mundo seria igual 

If the big one were brave, the small one patient and the red one loyal, everyone would be equal/the same

 

-  Homem ruivo e mulher barbuda, saúdam-se de longe 

Red-haired man and bearded woman greet each other from afar

 

-  Homem de barba ruiva ou é muito bom ou muito mau 

The man with a red beard is either very good or very bad

 

- Falso por natura, cabelo negro e barba ruiva 

Those with black hair and a red beard are false by nature

 

- Homem de barba ruiva, uma faz, oitra cuida  or Homem ruivo, um se faz, outro se cuida.

The man with a red beard (or red-haired) appears in one way and behaves in another

 

-  Homem de barba ruiva, uma diz, outra cuida

 The man with a red beard says one thing and does another

 

- Ruivo de mau pelo mete o demo/diabo no capelo 

The redhead with evil hair puts the demon/devil in his hat (Ruivo de mau pelo is the same as the Italian rosso malpelo)

 

- Ruivo (or ruço) de mau pelo, má casta, má cara e mau cabelo 

Redhead with evil hair, bad race, bad face and bad hair

 

- Ruivo ruivel, nunca fiel 

Redhead, little redhead, never faithful/loyal

Souces: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

 

 

Tons of Italian proverbs about red hair (in dialect too!)

Russian proverbs about redheads and a decree from Peter the Great  

More ancient proverbs about red hair 

European proverbs about red hair  

Scottish proverbs

French proverbs 

Galician proverbs about red hair

More Galician proverbs about red hair

We have already seen in this post two Galician proverbs about red hair. I will copy and paste them below and I will add more proverbs I found here. Many of them are about the notorius red-bearded man, 😁 while others are translations of Spanish proverbs. 

 

 

- Na aldeíña da Torre/ non entra un carro con toxo/ por causa dunha meniña/ que ten o peliño roxo 

In the village of A Torre/ no cart with gorse can enter/ because of a little girl/ who has red hair (A Torre is a village in the municipality of Vilagarcía de Arousa)

 

-  Cando o río fose enriba/ e os carballos deren uvas/ han de ser homes de ben/ os homes de barbas rubias. 

When the river flows upstream/ and the oaks bear grapes/ the men with red beards will be good men.

 

-  Home roxo e can rabelo, desconfía del como do demo

 Red-haired man and short-tailed dog, distrust them like the devil

 

-  Cando o castiñeiro dea landras i o carballo verdura, han de ser bos os homes das barbas rubias.  

 When the chestnut tree bears acorns and the oak bears fruit, the men with red beards have to be good.

 

-  Cando os olmos dean peras e os toxos boten uvas, han de ter boas auciós os homes das barbas rubias. 

 When the elms bear pears and the gorse bushes bear grapes, the men with red beards will have good fortune.

 

-  Home de barba rubia, unha diche, outra cuida.   

Man with a red beard, he tells you one thing and takes care (acts/behaves) in another way (This proverb is saying red-bearded men show a certain duplicity, because they say one thing and then do another. We will see later a different version of this proverb.)

 

- Cando os olmos dean peras e o trovisco dea uvas, entonces dirán verdá os homes das barbas rubias. 

When the elms bear pears and the hollywood bears grapes, the men with red beards will say the truth.

 

- De coio redondo, can rabeno e home de barba rubia, fianza ningunha.  

 Don’t trust the round stone, the short-tailed dog and the red-bearded man (We have seen here the Spanish version of this proverb).

 

- De español de pelo roxo e francés de pelo negro líbrate coma do demo. 

 Free yourself from a red-haired Spanish and a black-haired French as they were the devil.

 

-  Cálate ti, roxo barbudo, cando ti non chegas, eu non te axudo. 

 Shut up, red-bearded man. When you can’t do it, I don’t help you. 

 

-  Gata roxa, tal as fai tal as coida. 

 Red-haired cat, as it is, it takes care (that is: it acts/behaves). This is the opposite of one of the proverbs we have seen before. It says the red-haired cat is a very straightforward and “honest” animal, which acts in accordance with its appearance.