- English translation
He got out of one hole only to slide down the next slope.
- Literal wording
He came up out of a hollow into a downhill slope.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pictures someone climbing out of a hollow in the road only to land at once on a steep downward slope. The point lies in the passage from one hazard straight into the next, not in either hazard alone, so relief never really comes.
In use it describes misfortunes that follow one another without pause: a person clears one obstacle and is immediately met by another. Though the verb is masculine singular in form, the saying can describe anyone caught in such a run of setbacks, and it stresses the unbroken chain of trouble.
- When it is used
Said of someone who gets past one difficulty only to land straight in another. It fits comments on bad luck, a chain of mishaps, or a fix that only opens a fresh problem.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: He got out of one hole only to slide down the next slope.