猿も木から落ちる (saru mo ki kara ochiru) – literally means even monkeys fall from trees. I heard this a lot in my school days. It was used in reference to students who normally got good grades, but would get a bad grade every once in awhile.
井の中の蛙大海を知らず ( i no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu) – literally means that a frog in a well does not know of the great sea. In other words, some people never know of the world outside of their vicinity or experience, because they are sheltered by their narrow mind. It’s sometimes used for people who live without modern conveniences or people who have stayed in their hometown (usually in the countryside), never to see the city (usually the capital city).
蛙の子は蛙 (kaeru no ko wa kaeru) – literally means a child of a frog is a frog. It’s close to the English saying, ‘the apple does not fall far from the tree’ which is another way of saying a child will resemble his/her parents. It’s sometimes used to explain a child’s bad behavior by deflecting it back to the parents.
花よりだんご (hana yori dango) – literally means dumplings over flowers. This is a way of saying that a person sometimes prefers common sense over aesthetics. It’s sometimes used when people go out to view the sakura flowers. In this sense it means that people are more interested in drinking sake and eating dango than viewing the beauty of the flowers.
出る杭は打たれる (deru kui wa utareru) – literally means that the stake that sticks out will be hammered down. It means that it’s better to conform than to be singled out. I heard this a lot in my school days as well. I’ve heard it as a warning where someone warned that he would encounter jealous enemies because of his boasting and showing off.
秋茄子は嫁に食わすな (akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna) – literally means don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants. Put another way, it means, don’t let yourself be taken advantage of. This proverb is very telling about the traditional view of women who married into the husband’s family. In the past (some even argue it’s still true) married woman became a part of her husband’s family under a subordinate status, mainly because the woman was viewed as an outsider. In total, this proverb is used when somthing is so delicious that a mother-in-law will not share it with a semi-family member such as a daughter-in-law.
悪妻は百年の不作 (akusai wa hyaku nen no fusaku) – literally means a bad wife spells a hundred years of bad harvest. In other words, a nagging or lazy wife can ruin her husband. This proverb is obviously very misogynistic, but you gotta remember that some of these proverbs were first used hudreds and even thousands of years ago, so some of the sayings may not be politically correct.
おかしい (funny, strange)