- English translation
I told my luck, 'I'm just going out for a stroll.' It answered, 'Well, I'm not lame, so I'm coming too.'
- Literal wording
I said to my luck: I am going out to take a stroll. It said: And I am not crippled.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pictures bad luck as a companion who refuses to stay behind. The speaker, a woman by the grammar, tries to slip away for an ordinary outing with no ambition attached. Luck, meaning persistent misfortune, answers that it can walk and will come along. An unlucky person cannot escape misfortune, even in trivial pursuits.
The humor comes from giving luck a voice and an eager, able body. Its reply mocks the hope that misfortune appears only for important matters. The two halves rhyme on the words for strolling and for being lame; the latter is a disability term many today find offensive, so it deserves careful handling.
- When it is used
Said ruefully by someone whose bad luck seems to follow them even into harmless outings, or by others teasing such a person. It suits moments when a simple pleasure goes wrong, and its comic dialogue softens the complaint.
- Register
- Colloquial, wry and self-mocking
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: I told my luck, 'I'm just going out for a stroll.' It answered, 'Well, I'm not lame, so I'm coming too.'