ఇరిగింటమ్మ భక్ష్యాలకు పొరిగింటమ్మ నెయ్యి కాచుకున్నదట

irigintamma bhakshyalaku porigintamma neyyi kachukunnadata

Translation

When the woman in the nearby house made sweets, the woman in the neighboring house heated up ghee.

Meaning

This proverb is used to describe someone who gets excited, prepares, or makes plans based on someone else's actions or achievements, even though they have no direct involvement or benefit from it. It highlights unnecessary meddling or premature expectations.

Related Phrases

When an ill-treated daughter-in-law at last got some bad food from her mother-in-law, she told the neighbours she had been sumptuously fed. Real want is not dainty.

This proverb describes a person who is so deprived or in such a desperate situation that even the smallest, lowest-quality help feels like a massive luxury. It is used to highlight extreme gratitude born out of severe necessity, or sometimes to mock someone's lack of standards due to their poverty-stricken state.

When a starving woman was given stale food, she told the neighbors that her mother-in-law served her a royal feast.

This proverb describes a person who is so deprived or desperate that even the smallest, most insignificant favor feels like a grand gesture. It is used to highlight situations where someone's extreme need makes them overly grateful for something of very low value, or when someone tries to cover up their poor circumstances by glorifying a meager offering.

Neighbor's ghee, wife's hand.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone is overly generous or extravagant because the resources being used do not belong to them. It implies that people tend to spend or give away others' wealth much more freely than they would their own.

Gontamma's wishes.

This expression refers to endless, unrealistic, or extravagant demands that are difficult or impossible to fulfill. It is used to describe someone who keeps asking for more and more without any practical consideration or limit.

O lady neighbours! see the conduct of my husband. Inviting the sympathy of those who cannot interfere.

This expression is used to mock someone who unnecessarily broadcasts their private family matters or domestic trivialities to the entire neighborhood to gain sympathy or attention. It highlights the tendency of some people to make a public spectacle of their personal problems.

The hen that got used to eating (getting fed) ended up crowing from the rooftop.

This proverb describes a situation where someone who is pampered or given too much freedom eventually becomes arrogant, loses their boundaries, and starts behaving inappropriately. It is used to caution against over-indulging someone to the point where they lose respect for rules or hierarchy.

Quarrelling in one's neighbour's house is pleasant to listen to.

This proverb is used to describe the human tendency to find interest or amusement in the problems or disputes of others, as long as they do not affect oneself. It highlights the schadenfreude or curiosity people have regarding private matters of their neighbors.

Look in my neighbour's house, and see how openhanded I am! When I distribute his alms.

This proverb is used to describe a person who is very generous or charitable with other people's resources or money, but stingy with their own. It satirizes the hypocrisy of someone showing off their 'greatness' at the expense of others.

It is easy to be generous out of another man's purse. (Danish.)* Broad thongs are cut from other men's leather. (Latin.)!

Like melting ghee for the neighbor's pancakes.

This expression describes a situation where someone works hard or spends resources on something that only benefits others and provides no benefit to themselves. It is used to highlight wasted effort or misplaced generosity where the doer gains nothing.

Neighbor's sour curry is tasty.

This expression is used to describe the human tendency to value things belonging to others more than their own, even if their own possessions are of better quality. It is equivalent to the English proverb 'The grass is always greener on the other side'.