- English translation
He has seven trades at his fingertips, and still hardship keeps crushing him.
- Literal wording
Seven crafts in his hands, and worry is bearing down on him unjustly.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb describes someone who has mastered many trades yet remains poor and unlucky. Seven stands for many skills, not an exact count. Skill and effort are plainly present, but fortune keeps turning against the person, so no ability brings relief.
The hardship meant is poverty and a wretched lot, not mere emotional worry, and it presses unjustly. The blame falls on luck rather than the person, voicing sympathy, frustration, or bitter irony that competence goes unrewarded.
- When it is used
Use it of a capable, many-skilled person who still cannot escape need, especially to stress bad luck rather than laziness. It suits sympathetic or rueful remarks about someone's circumstances, and can also be said of oneself in mild self-pity.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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