Grandma would be proud of me. She always used to say ‘you are never too old to learn something new.’

Well, today I did just that.

You see, I always thought the saying ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb’ means that March begins with the promise of spring and ends with wintry, cold and wet weather.

Today I learned that ‘lion’ in this instance means ‘winter’ and ‘lamb’ means ‘spring’.

Well, blow me down!

To me, ‘lion’ means sun. Hot and baking. Blue skies. Bright sunlight. Long, tall grass, the colour of lion and open stretches of veld as far as the eye can see.

The word ‘lamb’ evokes maternal instincts in me. Words like protection, gentle, cosy, soft, hot water bottle and hot chocolate, come to mind.

Ha! Eighteen years in the UK and I never understood the meaning of ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.’

Misunderstandings happen easily.

Get five people around a table and ask them what they mean by the word ‘love’ (or team, or almost any other word) and see what you come up with. It is quite an eye-opener!

We each have our own perception, interpretation, judgement, thoughts and view on any given topic. We give meaning to it based on our experience, background, upbringing, cultural milieu, current thinking and influences around us.

Everyone has their own view of the world.

We can only agree on those topics where our views of the world are the same. Everything else about someone else is another world to us. That does not make them good or bad, stupid, ignorant, right or wrong. It simply means we don’t understand and we have no place to judge.

I guess this is what Dale Carnegie meant when he said ‘Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.’

It’s not fun when you find yourself criticized, condemned or ridiculed for not understanding something those around you take for granted. You feel marginalised, misunderstood, resentful, even angry.

He worked it out himself 😉 

Fortunately for me, my English friend worked out why someone from South Africa would misinterpret the meaning of ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.’ Lucky me.

Can you help?

Now, will someone please help me understand the connection between ‘winter’ and ‘lion’?

So far I have been offered ‘fierce‘.

Any other thoughts?