- English translation
I turned up at my father's home hoping for a little rest, but they slammed the door on me and tucked the key out of sight.
- Literal wording
I came to my father's house to rest; they shut the door in my face and hid the key.
- Meaning and lesson
The speaker goes to the father's house, the one place where a welcome should be assured, wanting nothing more than rest. Instead the door is shut in their face and the key is hidden, so a shelter that is theirs by right is deliberately closed to them.
Beyond the literal scene, the saying fits anyone denied something that properly belongs to them because luck has turned against them. The hidden key deepens the grievance: the way is barred, and the means of opening it is kept out of reach, so even the surest claim cannot be exercised.
- When it is used
Say it ruefully, often as a first-person lament, when you are kept from a home, inheritance, share, or benefit you are entitled to, and misfortune seems compounded by others blocking every route back in.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: I turned up at my father's home hoping for a little rest, but they slammed the door on me and tucked the key out of sight.