- English translation
Among the girls, a girl who will not handle a piece of corn stalk ends up abased.
- Literal wording
A girl who does not take hold of a piece of corn stalk becomes downtrodden among the girls.
- Meaning and lesson
The wording imagines a girl among other girls being slighted for not handling a piece of corn stalk. Its humour lies in the absurdly flimsy qualification: something nearly worthless is treated as if it determined her standing. The gendered image belongs to the saying and does not endorse stereotypes about girls or women.
More broadly, the saying ridicules treating a petty skill or possession as proof of cleverness and then displaying it for status. It exposes the hollow value of the prized trifle and the absurdity of ranking people by it.
- When it is used
Say it wryly when a group treats some petty knack as proof of being sharp, or when someone parades such a knack to gain standing. It is light ridicule of inflated importance, not a judgment on women or girls.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Among the girls, a girl who will not handle a piece of corn stalk ends up abased.