จับปลาสองมือ
Meaning: To chase two goals at once and risk losing both.
Language: Thai
Literally: To catch fish with both hands
Category: Animals
Origin: Grabbing a fish in each hand, you fumble your grip and both slither away — a Thai warning against greed.
Equivalents in other languages
- Hebrew: תפסת מרובה לא תפסת (Tafasta merubah lo tafasta) — literally: If you grabbed a lot, you grabbed nothing
- French: Qui trop embrasse mal étreint — literally: He who embraces too much holds badly
More idioms — Animals
- Cõng rắn cắn gà nhà — To bring in an outsider who harms your own people.
- Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou — A sunshower — rain while the sun shines.
- Koeitjies en kalfies — Idle small talk.
- Bobbejaan agter die bult — To worry about troubles that may never come.
- Мува без главе (Muva bez glave) — To rush about chaotically and without direction.
- Гладна мечка хоро не играе (Gladna mechka horo ne igrae) — Nothing gets done on an empty stomach.
More Thai idioms
- ตำน้ำพริกละลายแม่น้ำ — To squander resources for nothing.
- ขี่ช้างจับตั๊กแตน — To use enormous means for a trivial result.
- น้ำขึ้นให้รีบตัก — Seize an opportunity while it lasts.
- ชักแม่น้ำทั้งห้า — To give a long-winded, roundabout justification before getting to the point.