మన మెరుగుని చెవులకు మద్దికాయలా?

mana meruguni chevulaku maddikayala?

Translation

Like wooden earrings for ears that are not even seen?

Meaning

This proverb is used to describe a situation where someone performs an act of vanity or decoration that is completely useless or goes unnoticed. It highlights the futility of showing off or investing effort in something that doesn't serve a purpose or isn't visible to others.

Related Phrases

Will a Calotropis plant bear mangoes?

This expression is used to highlight that one's nature, quality, or output is determined by their origin or character. Just as a toxic or weed-like plant (Jilledu) cannot produce a sweet fruit (Mango), one cannot expect greatness, kindness, or high-quality results from a person or source that lacks those inherent qualities.

The road does not know authority; sleep does not know luxury.

This proverb highlights that certain natural states or circumstances are indifferent to status or comfort. Traveling on a road requires effort regardless of one's social standing (authority), and when a person is truly exhausted, they will fall asleep regardless of how comfortable the bed is.

His mother's ear-ornaments went to pay fines, and his wife's necklace of beads to pay harlots.

This proverb describes a person who is irresponsible, reckless, or addicted to vices. It depicts a scenario where a person squanders his family's assets—specifically the mother's jewelry to pay off legal fines or debts resulting from his bad behavior, and his wife's jewelry to spend on external pleasures or luxuries. It is used to criticize someone who ruins their household's stability through negligence and bad habits.

Blindness knows no quality; interest (usury) knows no tip (limit).

This proverb highlights two relentless or indifferent states. Just as a blind person cannot perceive the quality or beauty of something, a moneylender or the concept of interest (interest on debt) is indifferent to the struggles of the debtor and only cares about accumulation. It is used to describe situations where someone acts without empathy or when a burden keeps growing regardless of the circumstances.

Sexual warriors who do not know the fundamental rules.

This phrase is used to mock people who boast about their prowess or claim to be experts in a field without actually possessing any basic or fundamental knowledge of how it works. It describes incompetent people who exhibit misplaced confidence.

[ Are we to put ] ear ornaments on ears that we have never heard of? Said of persons whose pretensions to learning are not acknowledged.

This proverb is used to describe a situation where someone is overly concerned or making unnecessary efforts for people they don't know or things that don't belong to them. It highlights the irony of trying to beautify or help something unfamiliar while neglecting what is close at hand.

[Having heard that] they bore in Malayâlam, she covered up her ears all the way from Mâyavaram.

This proverb describes someone who is overly anxious or paranoid. It refers to a person who takes extreme, unnecessary precautions far in advance or at a great distance out of irrational fear of a potential event. It is used to mock those who overreact to rumors or distant threats.

Mâyavaram is near Combaconum.

Like a person waiting for the fruits of a Terminalia arjuna tree.

This expression is used to describe someone who is waiting in vain or wasting time for something that will never happen. Legend has it that a fox waited under a Maddi tree for its fruit to fall, not knowing that the fruit stays on the tree even after drying, leading to a long and fruitless wait.

The newly rich Dasari (monk) doesn't know the time of the day.

This proverb describes a person who has recently acquired wealth or power and displays excessive arrogance or lacks the wisdom to handle it. It is used to mock someone who behaves pretentiously or forgets their roots due to sudden prosperity.

There is no lie unknown to oneself, and there is no lineage unknown to the mother.

This proverb emphasizes absolute truth and intimacy. Just as a person internally knows when they are lying regardless of what they tell the world, a mother knows the true origin and character of her children better than anyone else. It is used to suggest that some facts are impossible to hide from those at the source.