- English translation
The onion swelled up round and forgot what it used to be.
- Literal wording
The onion grew big and became round, and forgot its former state.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb targets a person who has risen from poverty or a humble position and then behaves as if that earlier life never existed. It is disparaging: it treats this forgetting as a sign of a mean, base nature rather than an innocent lapse of memory.
The wording pictures an onion that has grown large and round and no longer remembers the condition it was first in. That picture is applied to people whose improved fortunes lead them to lose sight of where they began.
- When it is used
Use it critically about someone who has gained wealth or standing after poverty or obscurity and now behaves as though that earlier condition never existed. It passes judgment on the person's character, so it can sting if aimed at the listener.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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