ProverbHub
Arabic · Arabic scriptProverb: Verified

«اِلسِّت وِالْجَارْيَهْ عَلَى صَحْنِ بِسَارْيَهْ»

Meanings

Each meaning is reviewed on its own.

Meaning: Verified
English translation

Too many hands for a trivial job.

Literal wording

The lady and the maidservant over a plate of small fish.

Meaning and lesson

The saying pictures a mistress and her maidservant both busy cooking a single plate of small fish, of no particular kind. Two people laboring over so slight a dish makes the effort look far larger than the result deserves.

Taken as a whole, it is said when many people gather around a task too minor to need them. The target is the mismatch between the size of the crew and the smallness of the work, not the workers' skill.

When it is used

Fits remarks about a small errand, a simple meal, or a minor chore that draws more helpers than it needs. Use it lightly, as gentle teasing of people crowding around a trivial job.

Cite or copy proverb

How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.

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