A proverb used well in a Ghanaian meeting is not a flourish. It is a move.
Compression, not ornament
A proverb carries a claim, an authority and a precedent in one line. Translate it into English and you usually keep the image and lose the authority.
Why this matters for interpreters
An interpreter who renders a proverb literally has technically translated it and practically dropped it. The skill is finding the equivalent move in the other language, which sometimes means no proverb at all.
