«مِجَّوِّزَهْ عَدْسْ، عَازْبَهْ عَدْسْ»

The speaker sets two opposite situations for a woman side by side, being a wife and being unmarried, and finds the same humble dish of lentils, plain everyday fare, in each. Because nothing on the plate changes, the supposed advantage of marrying disappears, and the choice between the two conditions starts to look pointless.

More broadly, the saying dismisses any change that alters a label without improving what actually matters. The point is the absence of improvement, not a judgment about lentils themselves. When every option yields the same ordinary result, there is little reason to prefer one condition over the other.

Apply it when two conditions end in the same modest outcome, so neither deserves preference. Its framing concerns a woman's marital status; extending it to men or unrelated matters stretches it. Its dismissive view of marriage can sound flippant or hurtful toward someone weighing a real marriage decision.