ProverbHuman NatureFrench origin

À chacun son métier, et les vaches seront bien gardées

Meaning: Things go best when everyone sticks to what they know.

Literally: To each his trade, and the cows will be well kept

Example: “Laisse l'électricien s'occuper du tableau électrique : à chacun son métier, et les vaches seront bien gardées.” — Let the electrician handle the fuse box: every man to his trade.

Equivalents in English, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 4 more languages

  • English: Every man to his trade.
  • Spanish: Zapatero, a tus zapatos (literally: Shoemaker, to your shoes)
  • Japanese: 餅は餅屋 (Mochi wa mochiya) (literally: For rice cakes, go to the rice-cake maker)
  • German: Schuster, bleib bei deinem Leisten (literally: Cobbler, stick to your last)
  • Italian: Ognuno faccia il suo mestiere (literally: Let everyone do their own trade)
  • Portuguese: Cada macaco no seu galho (literally: Every monkey on its own branch)
  • Dutch: Schoenmaker, blijf bij je leest (literally: Cobbler, stick to your last)
  • Russian: Всяк сверчок знай свой шесток (Vsyak sverchok znay svoy shestok) (literally: Every cricket, know your own perch)
  • Polish: Pilnuj, szewcze, kopyta (literally: Mind your last, cobbler)

Origin: Made famous by Florian's fable Le Vacher et le Garde-chasse (1792): a cowherd and a gamekeeper swap jobs, and both the cows and the game are lost. Older proverb collections already had the idea before Florian.

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