నీ పెళ్ళాం ముండమోస్తే, నీకు ఎవరు అన్నం వండి పెడతారు అన్నాడట?

ni pellam mundamoste, niku evaru annam vandi pedataru annadata?

Translation

If your wife becomes a widow, who will cook for you ?

Meaning

This proverb describes a person with a complete lack of common sense or intelligence. It highlights a logical fallacy where the speaker fails to realize that for a wife to become a widow, the husband (to whom he is speaking) must be dead first, making the question of his future meals irrelevant and absurd.

Notes

* Heden in fåuur, morgen in het graf, 7

Related Phrases

When told to remove the leaves, he asked how many people had dined. An impertinent question.

This proverb describes a person who tries to avoid work or a simple task by asking unnecessary, irrelevant questions to delay or shirk their responsibility. It is used when someone makes a simple job seem complicated to get out of doing it.

A dog's tail is crooked; it said it won't change its nature.

This expression is used to describe a person who refuses to change their inherent bad habits or character, regardless of how much advice they receive or how much effort is made to reform them. It is similar to the English proverb 'A leopard cannot change its spots'.

" Who will watch your buffalo?" said [ a herdsman ]—" The money in my purse will do it" replied [ the master ]. A fit answer to an impertinent servant.

This proverb highlights the power of money and wealth. It suggests that if one has financial resources, they can hire help or find solutions to manage their responsibilities, implying that wealth can provide security and labor where physical effort or family support might be lacking.

When asked what they sent with the girl, the priest replied, 'We are poor, what can we give? Great kings like you would put a finger and send her.'

This is a humorous and sarcastic play on words involving the Telugu idiom 'Velu petti pampatam' (to put a finger and send). In a literal sense, it implies having nothing to give, but as a pun, it refers to the act of 'interfering' or 'poking one's nose' into others' business. It is used to mock people who ask intrusive questions about one's financial status or dowry by implying that the questioner's only contribution is their unnecessary interference.

If everyone climbs into the palanquin, who will be there to carry it?

This proverb is used to highlight the necessity of a division of labor. It means that in any society or project, everyone cannot be a leader or enjoy high status simultaneously; some people must perform the actual work or supportive tasks for the system to function. It is often used when everyone wants to be the boss but no one wants to do the work.

If all get into the palankin, who will be the bearers ? You a lady, I a lady, who is to drive out the sow? (Ollician.)

This proverb highlights the necessity of a social hierarchy and division of labor. It implies that if everyone wants to be the leader or hold a position of comfort and authority, no one will be left to do the actual work. It is used when everyone in a group expects to be served or wants a high-status role without contributing effort.

Who did evil to the scorpion ? Thoroughly bad by nature injuring others without provocation.

This rhetorical question is used to describe someone who is inherently malicious or harmful by nature, regardless of how they are treated. Just as a scorpion stings without provocation or reason, some people cause trouble or hurt others simply because it is in their character, not because they were wronged.

A thief's wife is always a widow. She is always in danger of becoming one.

This proverb highlights the constant state of anxiety and uncertainty faced by those who rely on illegal or unethical activities. Just as a thief's wife lives in perpetual fear that her husband might be caught or killed at any moment, people involved in wrongdoing can never enjoy true peace of mind because the consequences of their actions are always looming.

A burglar being asked why he was house-breaking in the day time, replied " What do you know of my necessities?" Distress tempts to crime.

This proverb is used to describe a person who is so driven by greed or extreme necessity that they abandon all common sense, shame, or fear of consequences. It highlights how someone might do something blatantly foolish or risky just to satisfy their immediate urges or needs.

Who has done any harm to the scorpion?

This expression is used to highlight the innate nature of some people or creatures to cause harm even without provocation. Just as a scorpion stings naturally without being provoked, some individuals exhibit malicious behavior regardless of how others treat them. It serves as a rhetorical question to suggest that bad behavior is often a result of one's character rather than a reaction to external injury.