- English translation
All swagger and upturned nose, with nothing but an onion in his pocket.
- Literal wording
A puffing-out, and a nose-in-the-air loftiness, and an onion in the pocket.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying targets a person whose outward manner is grand and haughty while their means are almost nothing. The puffed-out face and lifted nose are body images of conceit, not literal breathing, and the lone onion, a cheap everyday thing, exposes how little lies behind the show.
Its sting comes from the contrast between proud bearing and an empty purse. Poverty itself is not the fault being named. The ridicule falls on conceit that has no wealth, achievement, or standing to justify such airs.
- When it is used
Use it to mock someone who struts and looks down on others while having no money or substance behind the show. It is a jab, fitting teasing gossip or pointed rebuke; said to someone's face it insults. It targets pride, not poverty alone.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic; mocking, deflating tone
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: All swagger and upturned nose, with nothing but an onion in his pocket.