కుమ్మరి వీధిలో కుండలు అమ్మినట్టు

kummari vidhilo kundalu amminattu

Translation

Like selling pots in potters' street.

Meaning

This proverb is used to describe a redundant or futile action where someone tries to sell or teach something to a group of people who are already experts or have an abundance of that specific thing. It highlights a lack of common sense in choosing the right audience for one's skills or goods.

Related Phrases

Like selling firewood where flowers were sold.

This proverb describes a person who has fallen from a high, prosperous, or prestigious status to a lowly or poor condition. It signifies the misfortune of having to do menial work in the same environment where one previously enjoyed success and respect.

Like showing genuine corals but selling fake ones.

This expression describes a deceptive bait-and-switch tactic. It is used when someone lures others with a high-quality sample or promise but delivers a cheap or fraudulent product or result. It refers to dishonesty in business or character.

Like selling firewood where sandal had been sold. Said of the ruin of what once was beautiful.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone or something has lost its former glory, dignity, or high status. It refers to a decline in quality or a person resorting to menial tasks after having held a prestigious position.

When everyone sold their properties, the daughter-in-law sold her jewelry without consulting her mother-in-law.

This proverb describes a situation where someone takes a foolish or reckless action based on peer pressure or by following a trend without proper understanding or consultation. It highlights the consequence of acting blindly without looking at the long-term impact or seeking advice from elders/experienced people.

As if a potter has a shortage of pots.

This proverb describes a situation where a person lacks the very thing they produce or specialize in. It is used to point out the irony when an expert or a provider does not have access to their own services or products for personal use.

Like selling firewood in the same shop where flowers were once sold.

This expression describes a situation where someone who once lived a dignified or prosperous life has now fallen into a lowly or difficult state. It refers to a significant decline in status, quality, or circumstances, comparing the fragrance and beauty of flowers to the ruggedness and toil associated with selling firewood.

Who throws [ his property ] into the middle of the street and trusts it there?

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone has been betrayed or abandoned by the very person they placed their full trust in. It highlights the vulnerability of trusting someone blindly and the devastating consequence of being left helpless (in the middle of the street) when that trust is broken.

Like throwing a Gachcha nut into a potter's kiln. If the nut of this tree be thrown into a kiln, it will burst, and break the pots. A great injury done by a slight action.

This expression refers to a small action that causes a disproportionately large amount of damage or chaos. A grey nicker bean (gachakaya) has a hard shell that explodes with a loud bang when heated; if thrown into a potter's kiln, it can cause all the delicate earthenware inside to crack or shatter. It is used to describe a person who enters a peaceful situation and creates total ruin with a single word or deed.

Like selling needles in the blacksmiths' street.

This expression is used to describe a redundant or futile action where someone tries to sell or explain something to experts who already possess superior knowledge or resources in that specific field. It is similar to the English idiom 'carrying coals to Newcastle'.

To carry coals to Newcastle.

When addressed [by his son] in the bazar as "Father," he replied, "Son! unto whom wert thou born?"

This proverb is used to describe a situation where someone makes a general remark or expresses pain/need, and a stranger or bystander responds with an unnecessarily intrusive, mocking, or irrelevant personal question. It highlights the lack of empathy or the absurdity of some people's reactions to others' distress in public.

Want of natural affection. Selfish indifference.