అరవై ఏళ్ళ అన్నంభట్టు అద్దం చూచి బిద్దం బిద్దం అంటే, అదీ వాళ్ళమ్మకు ఆశ్చర్యం వేసింది.

aravai ella annambhattu addam chuchi biddam biddam ante, adi vallammaku ashcharyam vesindi.

Translation

When the sixty-year-old Annambhattu looked in the mirror and said 'Biddam Biddam', his mother was still surprised.

Meaning

This proverb is used to mock people who pretend to be innocent or childlike long after they have grown up, or to describe parents who refuse to acknowledge their adult children's maturity, treating their obvious or foolish behavior as something special or cute.

Related Phrases

When something with no identity looked into a mirror, it became multi-faced.

This expression is used to describe a situation where a person of no consequence or status suddenly gains power or attention and starts acting overly important or arrogant. It highlights how someone with no background or merit can become vain and complex when given a little recognition.

When asked to move out of the way, they grabbed the beard instead.

This proverb describes someone who behaves perversely or does the exact opposite of what is requested. It is used when a person responds to a simple request with an annoying or inappropriate action, or when someone misunderstands a situation so badly that they become a nuisance.

Ornaments worn for beauty will be useful in the time of want.

This proverb highlights the dual purpose of investing in gold or jewelry. While it serves to enhance one's appearance (beauty), it also acts as a financial safety net that can be sold or mortgaged during difficult times or emergencies. It is used to justify the practice of buying jewelry as a form of saving.

This way and that way

This expression is used to describe doing something randomly, recklessly, or excessively in all directions. It often describes a flurry of actions like scolding someone continuously, hitting someone repeatedly, or spending money lavishly without a plan.

A lie is a word of patches

This expression suggests that telling a lie requires weaving together multiple fabricated points to make it seem believable. It implies that lies are often inconsistent or fragile, much like a cloth made of many patches that might fall apart under scrutiny.

Wealth spent on beauty (ornaments) will come in handy during a crisis.

This proverb highlights the practical value of investing in jewelry or gold. While ornaments are primarily worn for beauty, they serve as a financial safety net that can be easily liquidated or used as collateral when one faces unexpected difficulties or emergencies.

He said the spinning wheel has arrived, move the cart out of the way.

This proverb is used to mock someone who exaggerates the importance of a small or insignificant object or event. It describes a situation where a person demands a lot of space or attention for something tiny (like a spinning wheel), treating it as if it were a massive vehicle (like a cart).

When someone walked holding a wall for support at sixty years of age, their parents were supposedly surprised.

This proverb is used to mock someone who achieves a very basic or expected milestone much later than usual, or performs a common action so late in life that it is no longer impressive. It highlights the irony of showing 'child-like' progress at an old age.

[ Seeing a hypocrite ] they cried out, “O Annambhotlu! purity! purity!” He answered “Alas! a dog has touched the big tank.”

This proverb is used to mock hypocritical or excessive obsession with ritual purity or rules. It suggests that while someone is fussing over minor details of cleanliness or tradition, a much larger, unavoidable 'impurity' or problem has already occurred, rendering their fussing pointless.

Like throwing a child into a well to find out the depth.

This expression is used to describe a foolish or reckless action where one risks something very precious just to test or find out something trivial or dangerous. It highlights extreme negligence or a lack of common sense in decision-making.