«هَاتِي يَا مِدْرَهْ وَدِّي يَا سِدْرَهْ»

The saying pictures money passing through a worker's hands. It speaks directly to two objects: the boat pole, the wooden shaft that pushes a boat and stands for earning labor, is told to hand over its earnings, and the cooking pot—a metal vessel, not the like-sounding lote tree—is told to carry them off. Whatever toil brings in goes to food.

It comments on gains that never stay long enough to build up into savings or comfort. The tone is resigned rather than angry: nothing is squandered, yet ordinary needs, above all eating, swallow each day's income as soon as it appears, leaving the earner no further ahead than before.

Use this wryly when someone complains that wages or profits disappear almost on arrival, especially into daily food and household needs. It fits humorous resignation about hand-to-mouth living rather than accusations of waste or extravagance.