- English translation
Ask a hungry man what one times one makes, and he'll tell you: a loaf of bread.
- Literal wording
They said to the hungry man: 'One times one, how much?' He said: 'A loaf.'
- Meaning and lesson
The saying mocks how a strong need takes over the mind. A person gripped by hunger cannot treat even a child's arithmetic question on its own terms. Whatever is asked, his reply comes back to food, because nothing else has room in his thoughts.
More broadly, it describes anyone so absorbed by a single want or worry that every conversation leads back to it. The colloquial 'how much' can also ask a price, so the hungry man answers with bread instead of a number. The joke is that a craving mind hears the question and names what it lacks.
- When it is used
Use it teasingly when someone answers an unrelated question with their pressing desire, or when you notice a person filtering every topic through one need. It works best among friends as a light jab rather than as a criticism of someone actually suffering hunger.
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- Colloquial, humorous
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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