- English translation
The professional mourner showed up a year and a half too late to lament.
- Literal wording
After a year and six months, the hired female mourner came to wail.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying criticizes an action taken so late that it cannot serve its intended purpose. It applies to belated help, sympathy, attention, or remedies offered after the moment when they could have made a difference.
The image is of a hired female lamenter arriving long after a death, so it targets untimeliness rather than mourning itself. It should not be read as endorsing historical social judgments associated with lamenters or funeral customs.
- When it is used
Use it to rebuke delayed intervention or concern, especially when a response comes after a problem has ended or harm is irreversible. It can be jocular, but may sound sharp when directed at someone who failed to act in time; its funeral image can also be sensitive.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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