- English translation
“All that fanfare, and you ended up back where you started.”
- Literal wording
“Titi, titi: just as you went, you came back.”
- Meaning and lesson
Said when someone makes a great display over an undertaking, only to return having achieved nothing. The repeated "titi" mimics the piping of a wind instrument, so the proverb sets loud, ceremonial fanfare against a complete lack of practical result.
It can also describe an effort that goes in a circle: much announcement, commotion and apparent movement, followed by no progress at all. Its tone is mildly mocking and dismissive.
- When it is used
Use it to chide someone whose heavily publicized effort ends without a result. It suits a wry, critical remark about activity that creates noise or spectacle but leaves the situation unchanged.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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