ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«زَيِّ الْفَرْخَهْ الدَّوَّارَهْ كُل سَاعَهْ فِي بِيتْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

Like a wandering hen, in a different house every hour.

Literal wording

Like the roaming hen, every hour in a house.

Meaning and lesson

The saying mocks a person who keeps making the rounds of other people's homes, never settling in their own place. Like a hen roaming from yard to yard, such a person seems to have no fixed station and shows up wherever an opening appears.

Beyond restlessness, the image carries a charge of lost dignity and self-respect. The hen pecks scattered grain wherever she lands, and the target is pictured as scraping a living from others' hospitality, gathering scraps here and there instead of standing on their own.

When it is used

Use it as a pointed, belittling remark about someone who is always turning up at other people's doors, especially when the visits seem driven by need or self-interest. It is not a neutral comment on sociability; it suits informal criticism and would offend if said directly.

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Colloquial; disparaging
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