చద్దికూడు తిన్నమ్మ మొగుడి ఆకలి ఎరుగదు

chaddikudu tinnamma mogudi akali erugadu

Translation

The wife who has eaten breakfast [ at home ] does not think of her husband's hunger. Little knows the fat sow what the lean one means. The full belly does not believe in hunger. (Italian.)

Meaning

This proverb describes a situation where a person who is comfortable or has already satisfied their own needs cannot empathize with the suffering or needs of others. It is used to criticize someone's lack of empathy due to their own self-satisfaction.

Related Phrases

Though the tiger be hungry will it eat grass ?

This expression is used to describe a person's inherent nature or integrity. It suggests that a person of high principles or specific traits will not compromise their character or stoop to low levels even when faced with extreme hardship or desperate situations.

A woman who has already eaten cold leftovers cannot understand her husband's hunger.

This proverb is used to describe a situation where someone who is already comfortable, satisfied, or has their needs met fails to empathize with the struggles or urgency of others. It highlights a lack of empathy or perspective when one is in a privileged or secure position compared to those around them.

A woman used to lovers and a woman used to eating cream cannot remain quiet.

This proverb is used to describe how once a person develops a taste for luxuries or a habit of indulging in forbidden/secret pleasures, they find it impossible to give them up. It highlights the persistent nature of deep-seated habits or addictions.

Avarice knows not shame; sleep knows not comfort.

This proverb highlights the nature of human basic instincts. It means that when a person is consumed by greed or deep desire, they lose their sense of shame or self-respect to achieve it. Similarly, when a person is truly exhausted and needs sleep, they do not care about the quality of the bed or the comfort of the surroundings; they can sleep anywhere.

When sleep overpowers, comfort is not thought of.

She who ate a mouthful is like a silk cotton tree trunk; she who ate a handful is like a thin sliver of wood.

This proverb is a sarcastic comment on how people's physical appearance often contradicts their claims about their food intake. It describes a situation where someone who claims to eat very little (a mouthful) is actually quite heavy or large, while someone who claims to eat more (a handful) remains very thin. It is used to mock hypocrisy or hidden habits regarding consumption.

The rice mortar feels not the famine.

This proverb is used to describe something that remains busy or functional regardless of the external situation. Just as a mortar is used to grind grain even during a famine (to process whatever little food is available), certain people or systems continue their routine or extraction despite the hardships around them.

Some grain or other is always pounded in it. Said of a person who is exempted by his position from the loss which falls upon others, or of one who escapes a general misfortune.

Hunger knows not taste, sleep knows not comfort, lust knows not shame.

This proverb highlights how basic human instincts and intense emotions override physical circumstances or social norms. When one is starving, the quality of food doesn't matter; when one is exhausted, the comfort of the bed is irrelevant; and when one is in love, they disregard social embarrassment or shyness.

Hunger is the best sauce.

A woman who has eaten fermented rice does not know her husband's hunger.

This proverb describes a situation where a person who is comfortable or has their needs satisfied fails to understand the suffering or needs of others. It is used to criticize someone who lacks empathy because they are in a privileged or stable position.

A woman who eats three meals a day does not understand her husband's hunger.

This proverb describes a situation where a person who is comfortable or has their needs fulfilled fails to empathize with the struggles or suffering of others. It is used to criticize lack of empathy or selfishness in those who are privileged.

The woman who has eaten the previous night's leftovers does not understand her husband's hunger.

This proverb describes a situation where a person who is comfortable or has their needs met fails to empathize with the struggles or needs of others. It is used to highlight selfishness or a lack of perspective when one's own belly is full.