- English translation
The fold only feels too small when the ewe belongs to someone else.
- Literal wording
Nothing crowds the sheep pen except the stranger ewe.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying observes that a pen rarely feels cramped because of its own flock. Only when a ewe from another owner wanders in does it suddenly seem too narrow, and the verb holds both senses: being physically crowded and being irritated. The crowding is less about room than about who is felt to belong.
Applied to people, it captures how a household or settled group grows irritable and possessive when an outsider joins them. The same room that easily held everyone now seems overfull, so the expression points to resentment of the newcomer rather than any real shortage of space.
- When it is used
Fits moments when a household or group suddenly finds its space too tight after someone new arrives, such as a visiting relative or a new colleague. Used wryly, it exposes that the complaint stems from the newcomer not belonging, not from lack of room, rather than endorsing the resentment.
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- Colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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