الحبل على الكذب قصير (al-ḥabl ʿalā al-kadhib qaṣīr)
Meaning: Lies never last; they are soon exposed.
Language: Arabic
Literally: The rope of lies is short
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A liar's rope is too short to reach far, so falsehood quickly runs out and is discovered.
More idioms — Daily Life
- نوشدارو بعد از مرگ سهراب (Nushdaroo ba'd az marg-e Sohraab) — A solution that arrives uselessly too late.
- קופצים על המציאה (Kofsim al hamtsi'a) — To seize a great opportunity at once.
- תפסת מרובה לא תפסת (Tafasta merubah lo tafasta) — Overreach for too much and you end up with nothing.
- Розбити глек (Rozbýty hlek) — To fall out and ruin a friendship.
- Ăn cơm nhà vác tù và hàng tổng — To do thankless public work at your own expense.
- N'hi ha per llogar-hi cadires — The drama is so good it's worth watching like a show.
More Arabic idioms
- يد واحدة لا تصفق (yad wāḥida lā tuṣaffiqu) — Nothing is achieved without cooperation.
- الجمل ما يشوف عوجة رقبته (Al-jamal mā yshūf 'awjat raqabatuh) — People are blind to their own faults.
- تمخض الجبل فولد فأرا (tamakhaḍa al-jabalu fa-walada fa'ran) — A huge fuss producing a tiny result.
- يضرب في حديد بارد (yadrib fi hadid barid) — To waste effort on a hopeless task.
- القرد بعين أمه غزال (al-qird bi-ʿayn ummihi ghazāl) — Parents see their children as beautiful no matter what.
- اللي ما يعرف الصقر يشويه (illi ma yaʿrif al-ṣaqr yishwīh) — Failing to recognize something valuable and destroying it.
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