- English translation
A wayward woman will reform only when water curdles.
- Literal wording
If water could curdle, the immoral woman would become repentant.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying voices utter disbelief that a woman branded as sexually or morally transgressive will repent or reform. It likens such change to water curdling like milk, an impossibility in the traditional explanation.
It is a harsh, fatalistic condemnation, not a neutral claim about change. Because it uses a gendered accusation, it can stigmatize women and dismiss repentance; it should not be read as endorsing that stereotype.
- When it is used
Use it only when reporting or analyzing a scornful expression of doubt about moral reform. In ordinary conversation it is likely insulting, especially toward women, because it invokes sexual and moral condemnation and rejects the possibility of repentance.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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