- English translation
The moment they step out of their shack, they give a fright to anyone who looks their way.
- Literal wording
They come out of the hut, they startle whoever looks.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb is a jeering portrait of people whose faces are thought to be so unsightly that their mere appearance gives a sudden jolt, not lasting fear, to anyone who happens to glance at them. It works as an exaggerated insult, not as a sincere warning about danger.
The humble hut is not meant literally; it serves only as a stand-in for any place they leave. The comic force comes from the sudden contrast between harmlessly coming outside and instantly shocking passersby, sharpened by the chiming rhyme that links leaving, startling, and looking.
- When it is used
Used derisively about people regarded as strikingly ugly, suggesting that merely stepping into view is enough to startle anyone who looks at them. Because it plainly ridicules appearance, it suits jesting, satire, or quotation rather than neutral description or polite conversation.
- Register
- Colloquial; mocking and insulting
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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