Japanese origin猿も木から落ちる (Saru mo ki kara ochiru)
Meaning: Even experts make mistakes.
Literally: Even monkeys fall from trees
Example: “ベテランの運転手が道を間違えた。猿も木から落ちるね。” — The veteran driver took a wrong turn. Even Homer nods.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and 4 more languages
English: Tis a good horse that never stumbles, and a good wife that never grumbles.
French: Il n’y a cheval si bon qui ne bronche (literally: It is a good horse that never stumbles)
Spanish: El mejor escribano echa un borrón (literally: The best scribe makes a blot)
German: Auch ein Pferd strauchelt, und hat doch vier Beine (literally: Even a horse stumbles, and yet it has four legs)
Italian: Sbaglia anche il prete all'altare (literally: Even the priest makes mistakes at the altar)
Dutch: Het beste paard struikelt wel eens (literally: Even the best horse stumbles sometimes)
Polish: I koń ma cztery nogi, a potknie się (literally: Even a horse has four legs and still stumbles)
Korean: 원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다 (Wonsungido namueseo tteoreojinda) (literally: Even monkeys fall from trees)
Arabic: لكل جواد كبوة (Li-kulli jawādin kabwa) (literally: Every steed stumbles)
Origin: No single historical event or literary source is credited with coining the phrase; it's generally understood to have grown organically out of ordinary, long-standing Japanese familiarity with monkeys and close observation of their behavior in the wild. The earliest documented appearance in print is in the 1638 haikai poetry collection Takatsukuba, in a verse noting that even a monkey, a genuinely skilled climber, occasionally slips and falls. The proverb's quiet humor rests entirely on that specific expertise: choosing an animal renowned for its climbing skill, rather than a clumsy one, makes the occasional failure land as a small, humbling surprise rather than an unremarkable inevitability.
Explore another collection: Untranslatable Words
Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.
- Wabi-sabi Finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the worn or incomplete.
- Tsundoku Buying books and letting them pile up unread — a habit, not a crime.
- Mono no aware A bittersweet awareness of impermanence — the gentle sadness and appreciation that arise…
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