- English translation
Someone told Folly, 'Go make a fool of him!' and Folly replied, 'What do you think I've been doing? I'm already giving him everything I've got.'
- Literal wording
O Dullness, make him dull! She said: Here I am, working hard at him.
- Meaning and lesson
Here khibah means dullness or foolishness, the opposite of cleverness, not everyday disappointment or failure. Dullness is pictured as a figure ordered to make someone stupid; she answers that she is already putting her full energy into the job. The joke is that this person's foolishness needs no outside push.
The saying is aimed at someone whose witlessness or ineptitude has reached an extreme degree. It mocks the target by suggesting that even Folly herself has taken them on as a full-time project, so any further encouragement toward stupidity would be pointless.
- When it is used
A sardonic remark about someone whose foolishness is already complete, as after a fresh blunder by a person known for poor judgment. It can insult if aimed directly at someone, so it suits wry asides among intimates. A variant with feminine endings (khayyibiha, fiha) targets a woman.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Someone told Folly, 'Go make a fool of him!' and Folly replied, 'What do you think I've been doing? I'm already giving him everything I've got.'