Wata more dan flour

proverb WA-ta MORE dan FLOUR ˈwata moːr dan flaʊr

Also spelled there's more water than flour, water more than flour

'Wata more dan flour' — there is more water than flour. Things are hard and stretched thin, the proverb says: the demands or difficulties far outweigh the means available to meet them, as a dumpling batter with too much water and too little flour will not come together. Said of a tight, struggling situation where resources fall short of the need, it names the everyday reality of trying to make too little go too far, when the burdens of life outmatch the little a person has to meet them with.

  • Payday nuh reach an di cupboard empty; wata more dan flour.

    Payday hasn't come and the cupboard's empty; the means fall far short of the need.

  • Too much bill an too likkle money — wata more dan flour.

    Too many bills and too little money — things are stretched thin.

  • Times rough right now; wata more dan flour.

    Times are rough right now; there's more water than flour.

A kitchen image: dumpling dough made with far more water than flour is thin and poor — a figure for a household or situation where the means are stretched too thin to go around.

An expression for hard times and stretched resources.