ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«طُولْ عُمْرَكْ يَا رِدَا وِانْتَ كِدَا»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

Cloak, you've been exactly this way your whole life.

Literal wording

All your life, O cloak, and you are like this.

Meaning and lesson

The speaker addresses a garment as if it were a person and remarks that it has always been just as it is now. The cloak is only a stand-in: the remark targets anyone, or any state of affairs, that has stayed fixed over time, with no change in character, behavior, or circumstances.

Most often the phrase carries a critical edge, pointing to a persistent shortcoming: a bad habit that never fades, a difficult temper, or a poor condition that never gets better. The two halves end in rhyming sounds, ridā and kidā, which gives the reproach a neat, teasing ring.

When it is used

Say it about someone whose conduct or circumstances have stayed the same for as long as anyone remembers, typically when that sameness is a flaw or a misfortune. It works as a mild reproach toward a person who never mends their ways.

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