ProverbHuman Nature
American origin19th c.
American origin19th c.You can't judge a book by its cover
Meaning: Appearances can be deceiving.
Example: “The shabby little restaurant serves amazing food; don't judge a book by its cover.”
Origin: American newspapers of the early 19th century already warned against judging a book by its outside show, and on June 12, 1849, the Boston Daily Mail ran the headline "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover." By 1854 another paper called it an old proverb. George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860) has the same thought, and today the saying is used far more about people than books.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 7 more languages
French: L'habit ne fait pas le moine (literally: The habit doesn't make the monk)
Spanish: Las apariencias engañan (literally: Appearances deceive)
Japanese: 人は見かけによらぬもの (Hito wa mikake ni yoranu mono) (literally: A person is not what they appear)
German: Der Schein trügt (literally: Appearances deceive)
Italian: L'abito non fa il monaco (literally: The habit doesn't make the monk)
Portuguese: O hábito não faz o monge (literally: The habit doesn't make the monk)
Dutch: Schijn bedriegt (literally: Appearances deceive)
Russian: По одёжке встречают, по уму провожают (Po odyozhke vstrechayut, po umu provozhayut) (literally: They greet you by your clothes and see you off by your mind)
Polish: Nie szata zdobi człowieka (literally: Clothes don't adorn the man)
Chinese: 人不可貌相 (Rén bù kě mào xiàng) (literally: People can't be judged by their looks)
Korean: 뚝배기보다 장맛이 좋다 (Ttukbaegiboda jangmasi jota) (literally: The sauce is better than its clay pot)
Turkish: Hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde (literally: An animal's spots are outside, a person's are inside)
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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