ఉలవ లెత్తమంటే ఊళ్ళడిగినట్లు

ulava lettamante ulladiginatlu

Translation

When asked to lift horse grams, asking for the entire village.

Meaning

This proverb describes a person who, when asked to perform a simple or specific small task, responds with irrelevant, grand, or impossible demands. It is used to highlight someone's evasiveness or their tendency to complicate a straightforward request with unnecessary conditions.

Related Phrases

Like asking about the taste just before starting to eat.

This proverb is used to describe someone's impatience or redundant curiosity when they are about to experience or find out the result anyway. It suggests that there is no point in questioning or speculating about something when the final outcome is imminent and will be known shortly through direct experience.

A washed mouth and a child who asks.

This proverb highlights two things that are always ready or desirable. A 'washed mouth' refers to a clean mouth ready to eat, and an 'asking child' refers to a child who is curious, expressive, or communicative about their needs, which is considered a sign of healthy development and clarity.

When asked to lift a straw, he supposedly asked for the head count of people available to help.

This proverb describes an extremely lazy person who looks for excuses or demands unnecessary help even for the smallest and easiest of tasks. It is used to mock someone who overcomplicates a simple job to avoid doing it themselves.

If you give exactly what is asked for, it will disappear as if washed away.

This proverb is used to warn against being overly generous or yielding to every demand. It suggests that if you fulfill every request without discretion, the resources or wealth will be depleted quickly and without leaving a trace, often implying that the recipient will not value it or will waste it.

Like lifting one's armpits after applying civet perfume.

This proverb describes a person who becomes overly arrogant, showy, or boastful over a small achievement or a newly acquired status/possession. It is used to mock someone who is behaving with excessive pride or showing off in an undignified manner.

Like asking Basavanna if he wants to eat horse gram and him nodding 'yes'

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone is overly eager or gives an immediate, enthusiastic consent to something that is clearly to their benefit. It refers to the bull (Basavanna) who never says no to its favorite food, implying a predictable and self-serving 'yes' without any hesitation.

Like asking for wages to chew sugarcane

This expression describes a situation where someone asks for a reward or compensation for doing something that is already beneficial, pleasurable, or personally advantageous to them. It highlights the irony of demanding payment for an activity that is its own reward.

Like asking for a head wrap for the head.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone makes a request or demand that is redundant, obvious, or perfectly suited to the immediate need, often implying that what is being asked for is already essential or inevitable. It is frequently used when a person asks for something they are clearly entitled to or which is a natural fit for the context.

When asked to feed, they asked to listen.

This proverb is used to describe a person who avoids doing a specific requested task by offering an irrelevant or useless alternative. It highlights an uncooperative attitude where one pretends to help but avoids the actual effort or responsibility required, similar to someone offering words instead of food to a hungry person.

Like applying lime to someone who asked for food

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone asks for help or a basic necessity, but instead of being helped, they are treated cruelly or given something harmful. It highlights the act of adding insult to injury or responding to a genuine plea with a malicious action.