Ada udang di sebalik batu
Meaning: There is a hidden motive.
Language: Malay
Literally: There's a shrimp behind the rock
Category: Animals
Origin: A shrimp lurking unseen behind a stone pictures a concealed, ulterior intention behind a kind act.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Il y a anguille sous roche — literally: There is an eel under the rock
- Swedish: Ana ugglor i mossen — literally: To suspect owls in the bog
- Hindi: दाल में कुछ काला है (daal mein kuchh kaalaa hai) — literally: There is something black in the lentils
More idioms — Animals
- Rhedeg fel cath i gythraul — To run frantically fast.
- Tá sé ar muin na muice — He's doing wonderfully; living in luck.
- I rri gjel dikujt — To strut arrogantly before someone and refuse to back down or bow one's head to them.
- Iku me bishtin ndër shalë — To slink off defeated and ashamed.
- Avoir une araignée au plafond — To be a little crazy.
- Einen Kater haben — To have a hangover.
More Malay idioms
- Melepaskan batuk di tangga — To do a job half-heartedly and leave it unfinished.
- Kacang lupakan kulit — To forget your roots and origins.
- Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi — Betrayed by the very one you trusted to protect you.
- Bagai pinang dibelah dua — Two people perfectly alike or well matched.
- Bagai aur dengan tebing — A mutually supportive relationship.