- English translation
Keep trying different shoes until you find one that fits.
- Literal wording
Wear a slipper and take off a slipper until a slipper comes to you.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying counsels patience with an unsuitable arrangement. Rather than rushing, complaining, or accepting a poor fit, a person should keep looking and making changes until a genuinely suitable option is found.
Historically, it could be applied to choosing people for a task or household from the chooser’s perspective. In that use, however, the footwear image can sound hierarchical and should not be taken to endorse treating people as disposable.
- When it is used
Use it to advise patience when a practical choice proves unsuitable: do not settle or merely complain, but keep seeking a better fit. If applied to people in roles or relationships, use caution, since the image may imply that people are replaceable.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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