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Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«زَيِّ كْلَابِ السِّكَّهْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

Just like stray street dogs

Literal wording

Like the dogs of the lane

Meaning and lesson

The simile likens a person to the stray dogs that roam a lane, sniffing at every doorway for scraps. It marks the target as contemptible and lacking self-respect, someone who behaves with the meanness associated with ownerless animals, an especially degrading image.

It also mocks a habit of hanging around other people's homes uninvited, turning up wherever food or advantage might be found. The insult joins both traits: the speaker condemns the lowliness and the pushy, parasitic intrusion together, not just one of them.

When it is used

Use this as a harsh, demeaning simile to scorn someone who drifts from house to house, inviting themselves in for food or favors, or who acts without dignity. Comparing a person to stray dogs is deeply insulting, so it belongs to heated talk or mockery, never polite conversation.

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How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.

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