Literal translation
Long words make the days short
Meaning
too much talk wastes the day
Explanation
This saying warns against overly long speeches, endless talk and digressions that, by dragging on, eat up available time without one noticing. The image reverses ordinary perception: the time spent talking eats into what could have been spent acting, giving the impression that the day slipped away faster than it should have. It is used to urge conciseness, in a meeting that drags on, a negotiation that goes nowhere, or simply to cut short chatter judged unproductive. The register is sententious and common, in the tradition of proverbs that set speech against action and prize efficiency. The word jou here unambiguously means days, in a deliberate contrast between the length of words and the shortness of time they leave for everything else.