حبل الكذب قصير (ḥabl 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.
From our tongue twisters
- De kat krabt de krullen van de trap. — A 'kr' cluster drill — Dutch consonant pileups that beginners approach with dread.
- Als vliegen achter vliegen vliegen, vliegen vliegen vliegen achterna. — The same noun/verb homograph trap as the German version — vliegen does triple duty.
- 간장 공장 공장장은 장 공장장이고 된장 공장 공장장은 강 공장장이다. (Ganjang gongjang gongjangjang eun Jang gongjangjang igo, doenjang gongjang gongjangjang eun Gang gongjangjang ida.) — A 'gong/jang/gang' syllable storm — the two surnames (Jang/Gang) swap while the rest stay…