గాడిద చంటిలో కడివెడు పాలు

gadida chantilo kadivedu palu

Translation

A potful of milk in a donkey's udder

Meaning

This expression is used to describe something that is inherently useless or impossible to benefit from, despite its apparent abundance or value. Even if a donkey produces a large quantity of milk, it is culturally considered unusable or impure in this context. It signifies wasting effort on something that yields no practical result.

Related Phrases

Akasharamanna reads the celestial almanac.

This expression is used to describe someone who makes baseless claims, tells lies, or provides information from unknown or unreliable sources. It refers to someone (Akasharamanna) who talks about things that have no foundation in reality, similar to an anonymous or imaginary person giving a report that cannot be verified.

Lime in one eye and butter in the other eye

This expression is used to describe showing partiality or unfair discrimination. It refers to a situation where two people or groups are treated differently—one with harshness (lime/sunnam, which burns) and the other with kindness (butter/venna, which soothes).

A hard field and donkey's milk

This proverb is used to describe a situation that is completely useless or yields no benefit despite hard work. Just as a hard, barren field produces no crop and a donkey's milk is generally not consumed, it refers to a wasted effort or a lost cause where the resources and results are both worthless.

The braying donkey spoiled the grazing donkey.

This proverb describes a situation where someone who is minding their own business and working productively is distracted or ruined by the foolish actions of another. It is used when a person's good progress is halted because they joined company with someone loud, lazy, or troublesome.

Ash is the medicine for a donkey's wound

This expression is used to describe a simple, crude, or inexpensive solution for an unworthy or trivial problem. It implies that a high-quality or expensive remedy is not needed for something of low value or for someone who doesn't appreciate it.

A single drop of buttermilk for a pot full of milk

This proverb refers to how a small negative influence or a tiny mistake can transform or ruin something large and pure. Just as a drop of buttermilk curdles an entire pot of milk, one bad person can influence a group, or one small error can change the entire outcome of a situation.

Donkey's chaos/clipping

This expression is used to describe a situation of extreme chaos, disorder, or a messy state of affairs. It often refers to something that is disorganized, nonsensical, or a noisy disturbance where nothing constructive is happening.

Milk from one breast, blood from the other.

This expression is used to describe a person who is capable of being both extremely kind and extremely harsh, or someone who shows two contrasting sides of their nature depending on the situation. It signifies a person who can nurture like a mother (milk) but can also be fierce or ruthless (blood) when provoked.

Like a donkey trying to do a dog's job

This expression is used when someone tries to perform a task that is not within their expertise or role, often resulting in failure or chaos. It highlights the importance of sticking to one's own responsibilities and strengths.

A measure in the mud, a heap in the house.

This is a traditional agricultural saying referring to the high yield of crops. It means that even a small amount of seed sown in the soil (mud) can result in a massive harvest stored at home. It is used to describe investments or efforts that yield exponentially great results.