- English translation
Sir merchant, this one and that one are cut from the same cloth.
- Literal wording
This one came from that one, O Master Merchant.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying observes that a set of things closely resemble one another, so that each seems to have come from the same mold as the next. Its point is that distinctions drawn among them are slight, and treating one as clearly superior to the rest is hard to justify.
The image is a trader singling out some wares as finer to attract a buyer. Here khawaga means merchant, and si, short for sidi, is a respectful title, so the reply politely addresses him as master merchant while noting that this piece and that one are really of the same kind.
- When it is used
Suitable when alternatives are presented as unequal although they are essentially the same. It applies naturally to a seller ranking some goods above others, and more broadly to any case where claimed differences between similar things do not hold up.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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