- English translation
Strike the one-eyed man on his bad eye and he'll just say, 'That one was gone already.'
- Literal wording
They hit the one-eyed man on his eye; he said: 'There it is, a lost one.'
- Meaning and lesson
The saying describes harm aimed at something already beyond saving. The one-eyed man is struck on his blind eye, so the blow takes nothing from him; he notes that the eye was lost long before. Damage done to what is already ruined changes nothing.
It applies to pointless punishment, where the penalty strips away nothing the person still values, and to efforts to spoil an affair that was already spoiled. The tone is dry and somewhat fatalistic, marking the attack as futile. In one variant he simply repeats 'ruined, ruined,' with the same resigned sense.
- When it is used
Use it as a wry, resigned remark when punishment cannot hurt someone with nothing left to lose, or when someone tries to wreck something already broken. Since the image rests on a physical disability, consider whether it suits the audience.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Strike the one-eyed man on his bad eye and he'll just say, 'That one was gone already.'