ఏదారి అంటే గోదారి అన్నట్టు

edari ante godari annattu

Translation

When asked which way, saying 'Godavari' way.

Meaning

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone gives an irrelevant or nonsensical answer to a specific question, or when there is a complete lack of communication/understanding between two people. It highlights a disconnect where the response has nothing to do with the query.

Related Phrases

Like buying leather from a shoemaker. Purchasing at unreasonable prices. The shoemaker buys his leather to make up, not to retail to others.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone is overly cautious or suspicious about getting a fair deal. Historically, a cobbler (godari) would know every flaw in the leather, so a customer would be extra wary of being cheated or given inferior scraps. It signifies dealing with an expert in a way that involves extreme scrutiny or hesitation.

When told 'there is no cow, Gopanna', he says 'they are in the Godavari river, Papanna'

This proverb is used to describe a situation where someone gives an irrelevant, illogical, or evasive answer to a direct statement or question. It highlights a complete lack of communication or understanding between two people, often where one person is making excuses or diverting the topic with nonsense.

When asked why he was plucking green ears of grain, the Dasari replied, 'Govinda to those that fall'

This proverb is used to describe a person who is careless, irresponsible, or indifferent to waste and damage. It depicts a situation where someone tasked with a job performs it so poorly or recklessly that they dismiss the resulting loss with a casual, religious exclamation, rather than taking accountability for their actions.

When asked which way, saying Godavari.

This expression describes a situation where someone gives an irrelevant, nonsensical, or rhyming answer to a question instead of providing the actual information requested. It highlights a lack of connection between the question asked and the response given, often used when someone is being evasive or is completely lost in conversation.

The mother-in-law's harassments are the daughter-in-law's pregnancy cravings.

This proverb is used to describe a situation where one person's suffering or hardship is treated as a triviality or a joke by another. It highlights the power dynamics and lack of empathy in a relationship, specifically referring to how a mother-in-law might dismiss her daughter-in-law's genuine struggles or turn them into something else entirely.

When told to pluck a milky grain ear, the beggar said only the fallen ones are for God.

This proverb describes a person who is extremely lazy or unwilling to put in even the slightest effort. When someone is offered an opportunity that requires a tiny bit of work (like plucking a grain), they respond by saying they will only take what has already fallen on the ground, showing a complete lack of initiative.

Like having leather at a cobbler's place.

This expression describes a situation where something is available in abundance but is often in a state of disorder or not put to proper use for oneself. It refers to a person who has plenty of resources related to their profession but lacks the finished product for their own personal use, or more generally, someone who possesses resources but cannot manage them effectively.

My foot is my safety. The disciples of a Guru on commencing to cross a river said " May the holiness of our master's feet preserve us!" After they had crossed it in safety the self righteous Guru believing that his presence had preserved them, stepped into the water saying "My foot is my safety" and was carried away by the stream, and drowned.

This expression is used to describe a person who is extremely stubborn, independent to a fault, or someone who refuses to listen to others' advice, acting as if they are their own only authority. It can also describe someone who has no one else to rely on but themselves.

When told 'The hollow grain is gone, Oh Dasari', he replied 'Only as much as it fell is Govinda'.

This proverb describes a situation where someone tries to mask a failure or a loss as a voluntary act of devotion or indifference. It is used when someone loses something worthless or faces a minor setback and pretends they offered it to God or didn't care about it anyway to save face.

If you say 'wet land', they say 'paddy'.

This proverb is used to describe a situation where someone makes a very obvious or redundant statement. Since paddy is the primary crop grown on wet lands (tari), saying 'paddy' when 'wet land' is mentioned is an unnecessary clarification of the obvious.