It is a strange SALT FISH that no water can make fresh

Meaning & Analysis

Salted fish must be soaked in water to remove the excess salt and rehydrate it before it can be eaten. The proverb literally means that a piece of salt fish that cannot be made palatable ('fresh') by this process is highly unusual or fundamentally flawed.

Insights

Incorrigible Nature

The proverb is a metaphor for a person who is stubbornly set in their negative ways. The 'salt' represents ingrained bad habits or a harsh disposition, while 'water' symbolizes attempts at reform, correction, or kindness, which prove ineffective.

Irreparable Damage

It can also refer to a situation, relationship, or reputation that has been so thoroughly damaged that it is impossible to repair or restore, no matter what corrective measures are taken.

Emotional Unresponsiveness

The proverb suggests that some individuals are emotionally unyielding or unresponsive. Efforts to soften their harsh demeanor through kindness or reason ('water') have no effect on their 'salty' personality.

Historical and Domestic Context

The proverb draws on the common historical reality of preserving fish with salt, a staple food item for centuries. The process of soaking the fish to make it edible was a familiar domestic chore, making the metaphor of a person resistant to positive influence immediately accessible and potent.

Psychological Realism

This proverb reflects a degree of cynicism or realism about human nature, suggesting that some character flaws are so deeply ingrained they are beyond correction. It speaks to the psychological concept of a 'fixed mindset', where an individual's character is seen as unchangeable.

Social Judgment

Labeling someone a 'strange salt fish' serves as a form of social commentary, identifying them as an outlier who resists the softening influence of their community, reason, or kindness. It's a judgment on those who are stubbornly resistant to social norms and improvement.

Rhetorical Devices

Metaphor

The core of the proverb is the metaphor comparing a stubborn or flawed person to a piece of salted fish that cannot be restored.

Emphatic Adjective

The use of 'strange' emphasizes that such incorrigibility is considered unnatural or an aberration. It suggests that most people, unlike this particular 'fish', are receptive to change or improvement.

Material Symbolism

The proverb uses the tangible elements of 'salt' and 'water' to symbolize abstract concepts. Salt represents a deeply ingrained, preservative (and negative) quality, while water represents a cleansing, restorative force.

stubbornnessincorrigiblecynicismhuman-naturereformunchangeable

Analyzed with gemini-2.5-pro on November 17, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

It is a salt fish that water cannot make fresh.

— 1580, LYLY, Euph. and His Eng., p. 97

— 1732, FUL., no. 2888

Related Proverbs

D527 All the DOGS follow the salt bitch 80.3%H449 Red HERRING ne'er spake word but een,¹ Broil my back but not my weamb² 79.9%M843 To mar good MEAT by ill cooking 79.0%H559 To lick HONEY through a cleft stick 78.9%H450 To fish for a HERRING and catch a sprat 78.8%W261 When the WELL is full it will run over 78.7%M476 A MAN's praise in his own mouth does stink 78.5%W127 You have dived deep into the WATER and have brought up a potsherd 78.5%T433 The TOOTHACHE is more ease than to deal with ill people 78.4%B214 Salt BEEF finds the way to the wine without a candle 78.4%W96 In the deepest WATER is the best fishing 78.3%B401 You catch BIRDS by laying salt on their tails 78.3%M23 A MAID that loves too soon will repent too late 78.3%M977 Unsound MINDS, like unsound bodies, if you feed you poison 78.2%S172 He complains wrongfully on the SEA that twice suffers shipwreck 78.1%W363 He that will put away his WIFE 'cause she farts and his horse 'cause he stumbles will be badly horsed and worse wived 78.1%M600 Wise MEN care not for what they cannot have 78.1%H60 It is hard (ill) HALTING before a cripple 78.0%M208 Let an ill MAN lie in thy straw and he looks to be thy heir 78.0%W759 Every WORD requires not an answer 78.0%

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