The shoemaker's children go barefoot
Meaning: Those who possess expertise often neglect applying it to their own household's needs.
Origin: An old proverb that craftsmen neglect their own families while serving customers. John Heywood's 1546 collection asks, "Who is worse shod than the shoemaker's wife, / With shops full of new-shapen shoes all her life?" It is now said of any expert who neglects their own household.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- The whistle doesn't pull the train — Mere noise and commotion accomplish nothing; only genuine effort and power move things fo…
- Those who have, get — Wealth and resources accumulate toward those already possessing them, compounding their a…
- Timing is everything — Seizing the right moment determines success more than effort or ability alone.
- To the victor go the spoils — Victory earns the right to claim rewards and resources from the defeated.
- What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh — Inborn character traits and inherited nature inevitably reveal themselves outwardly, no m…
- What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts — Life's ups and downs balance out over time; temporary losses in one area offset by gains…
From our tongue twisters
- Pepe Pecas pica papas con un pico. ¿Con qué pico pica papas Pepe Pecas? — A bouncy 'p' cluster that accelerates with the question at the end.
- El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado. — A rolled-'r' workout — every word demands the vibrating trill.
- Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril; rápido ruedan los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. — The definitive Spanish rr drill — unrelenting double-r from start to finish.