na casa do ferreiro o espeto e de pau

English translation: None more bare than the shoemaker's wife and the smith's mare

14:26 Jul 9, 2001

Portuguese to English translations [Non-PRO]

Portuguese term or phrase: na casa do ferreiro o espeto e de pau

"Na casa do ferreiro o espeto e de pau"
Portuguese proverb.

I understand the meaning but can't recall a parallel English proverb.
Any ideas? No literal translations please.

lexical

English translation:None more bare than the shoemaker's wife and the smith's mare

Explanation:
I think that could help you. Good luck!

Selected response from:

Mariana Nabas
France
Local time: 23:05

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4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

na +2

None more bare than the shoemaker's wife and the smith's mare

Mariana Nabas

na +1

The plumber's taps always leak

Dee Pinto

irony, paradox

DrSantos

.....

Mariana Nabas

The shoemaker's wife is always worst shod

Joseph Royal

Answers

44 mins peer agreement (net): +2

None more bare than the shoemaker's wife and the smith's mare

Explanation:
I think that could help you. Good luck!

experience

Mariana Nabas
France
Local time: 23:05
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

English

Grading comment

Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.

10 hrs

irony, paradox

Explanation:
Mariana's suggestion is the only one, I believe.
It is an untranslable proverb, so if you don't like Mariana's proverb, I suggest NOT TO TRANSLATE IT AT ALL; replace it with the REAL meaning: "Irony, paradox" or similar.

I looked into 7 Idioms, Euphemisms, Quotations books - NOTHING!

DrSantos
Local time: 22:05
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in pair: 183

17 hrs

.....

Explanation:
Dr. Osmar Santos,

I have found that for you. De Proverbio has a book with proverbs English-Romenian and, luckily, that was 'my proverb'. It's a very good selection of proverbs.

Reference: http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/flonta/DPbooks

Mariana Nabas
France
Local time: 23:05
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

English

2 days 18 hrs peer agreement (net): +1

The plumber's taps always leak

Explanation:
O proverbio tem a ver com o facto que a pessoa profissional nao aplica a sua competencia na sua vida pessoal

Dee Pinto
Local time: 23:05
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

English

3 days 7 hrs

The shoemaker's wife is always worst shod

Explanation:
Larousse Span/Eng, Eng/Span Dictionary has "en casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo: the shoemaker's wife is always worst shod."

obviously the spanish is equivalent to the portuguese, so this is a possibility

Joseph Royal
United States
Local time: 14:05
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 16

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