- English translation
As jittery as the foil streamers in the perfume bazaar, where the faintest breeze sets them quivering.
- Literal wording
Like the gilded foil of the Tarbi'a: a hair's breadth of wind shakes it.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pokes fun at a person who loses their nerve at almost nothing. Like delicate gilded foil hung in a Cairo market quarter, which trembles at the slightest movement of air, such a person startles, frets, or retreats at the smallest pressure, rumor, or threat.
The emphasis falls on how far the reaction outweighs its cause. The speaker is not only calling someone timid but suggesting their fear is ridiculous, since the faintest breath of trouble, barely a disturbance at all, sets them shaking.
- When it is used
Use it to tease or criticize someone who panics, flinches, or backs down at the first hint of trouble, especially when the threat is trivial. It is a mocking put-down, not a neutral remark, so it suits informal talk among familiar people and may offend a stranger.
- Region
- Egypt (the image refers to a market quarter of Cairo)
- Register
- Colloquial Egyptian Arabic
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: As jittery as the foil streamers in the perfume bazaar, where the faintest breeze sets them quivering.