IdiomDaily Life
Portuguese
PortugueseDiz o roto ao nu: porque não te vestes tu?
Meaning: Said when someone criticizes another for a fault they share.
Literally: Says the ragged man to the naked one: why don't you get dressed?
Example: “Ele diz que eu gasto demais, logo ele, que compra tudo o que vê. Diz o roto ao nu: porque não te vestes tu?” — He says I spend too much, and he buys everything he sees. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
English equivalent: The pot calling the kettle black
Other ways to say this
Hungarian: Bagoly mondja verébnek, hogy nagyfejű Literally: The owl tells the sparrow it's big-headed
Arabic: الجمل ما يشوف عوجة رقبته (Al-jamal mā yshūf 'awjat raqabatuh) Literally: The camel can't see the bend in its own neck
French: C'est l'hôpital qui se fout de la charité Literally: It's the hospital making fun of the charity ward
Spanish: cachicamo diciéndole a morrocoy conchudo Literally: Armadillo telling tortoise shell-backed
German: ein Esel schimpft den andern Langohr Literally: One donkey scolds the other long-ear- Portuguese: sujo falando do mal lavado Literally: Dirty speaking of the badly washed
- French: La paille et la poutre Literally: The straw and the beam
English: the pot calling the kettle black- Spanish: Dijo la sartén al cazo Literally: Said the frying pan to the saucepan
Italian: Il bue che dice cornuto all'asino Literally: The ox calling the donkey "horned"
Japanese: 目くそ鼻くそを笑う (Mekuso hanakuso o warau) Literally: Eye gunk laughs at nose gunk
Korean: 똥 묻은 개가 겨 묻은 개 나무란다 (Ttong mudeun gaega gyeo mudeun gae namuranda) Literally: The dog with dung on it scolds the dog with chaff on it
Dutch: De pot verwijt de ketel dat hij zwart is Literally: The pot reproaches the kettle for being black
Polish: Przyganiał kocioł garnkowi Literally: The cauldron scolded the pot
Russian: Чья бы корова мычала, а твоя бы молчала (Ch'ya by korova mychala, a tvoya by molchala) Literally: Anyone's cow might moo, but yours should keep quiet
Turkish: Tencere dibin kara, seninki benden kara Literally: "Pot, your bottom is black!" "Yours is blacker than mine."
Chinese: 五十步笑百步 (Wǔshí bù xiào bǎi bù) Literally: Fifty paces laughing at a hundred paces
Origin: Roto means torn, here a man in rags: barely dressed himself, he scolds the naked man for wearing no clothes. The rhyme, nu and tu, helps it stick. No first use is documented.
More Portuguese idioms
- Engolir sapos To put up with unpleasant things without complaining.
- Pagar o pato To take the blame for something you didn't do.
- Descascar o abacaxi To solve a very difficult, thorny problem.
- Empurrar com a barriga To procrastinate; to keep delaying something.
- Matar a cobra e mostrar o pau To prove you actually did what you claim.
- dar um jeito Find a creative solution or workaround, often bending rules pragmatically.
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