ProverbMorality
Dutch origin
Dutch originWie boter op zijn hoofd heeft, moet uit de zon blijven
Meaning: Don't criticize others for faults you have yourself.
Literally: Whoever has butter on his head should stay out of the sun
Example: “Hij klaagt over luie collega's, maar zelf komt hij altijd te laat. Wie boter op zijn hoofd heeft, moet uit de zon blijven.” — He complains about lazy colleagues, but he's always late himself: people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, and 4 more languages
English: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
French: Il faut balayer devant sa porte (literally: One must sweep in front of one's own door)
Spanish: El que tiene tejado de vidrio no tire piedras al del vecino (literally: He who has a glass roof should not throw stones at the neighbor's)
Japanese: 猿の尻笑い (Saru no shiriwarai) (literally: A monkey laughing at another monkey's red bottom)
German: Wer im Glashaus sitzt, soll nicht mit Steinen werfen (literally: He who sits in a glass house should not throw stones)
Portuguese: Quem tem telhados de vidro não atira pedras (literally: Whoever has a glass roof doesn't throw stones)
Russian: Сучец в чужом глазу видишь, а в своём и бревна не видишь (Suchets v chuzhom glazu vidish', a v svoyom i brevna ne vidish') (literally: You see the speck in another's eye, not the log in your own)
Chinese: 五十步笑百步 (Wǔshí bù xiào bǎi bù) (literally: Running fifty paces, laughing at one who ran a hundred)
Arabic: من كان بيته من زجاج فلا يرشق الناس بالحجارة (Man kāna baytuhu min zujāj falā yarshuq an-nās bil-ḥijāra) (literally: Whoever's house is glass shouldn't pelt people with stones)
Origin: Butter on your head melts in the sun and gives you away; whoever has something to hide should keep out of the spotlight.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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