21 A quarrelsome person starts fights
as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.
I read recently that the word irritable is a word picture of someone “at a knife’s point.” I don’t know the etymology of the word, but it is a good picture. Someone who is irritable is “this close” to getting poked. It doesn’t take much to push him or her a little closer.
This proverb reminds me of that word picture. The writer says that the quarrelsome person is “this close” to flaring up. This picture also makes us consider that the person is already “hot” and just about any breeze will do to set them off.
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