- English translation
When they told the monkey to veil her face, she answered: 'Why bother? This face got used to disgrace long ago.'
- Literal wording
They said to the she-monkey: 'Put on a face veil.' She said: 'This is a face that has taken to scandal.'
- Meaning and lesson
The saying targets a person who has cast off all restraint and no longer cares about public opinion. When others urge such a person to cover up or act with some decency, the request misses the point. Their reputation is already spent, so hiding now seems pointless to them.
The humor lies in the monkey's frank reply. She does not deny her shame. She treats it as old, settled history. The proverb mocks shamelessness that has hardened into habit, where calls for propriety meet only indifference. It can also suggest that advice about modesty comes too late.
- When it is used
Use this when someone urged toward modesty after shameless conduct answers, in word or deed, that reputation no longer matters. It is a sharp, mocking remark for informal talk. Likening a person to a monkey is insulting, and the veil imagery can sound like gendered moralizing when aimed at women.
- Register
- Colloquial Arabic with dialectal features (e.g., وش for face, واخد for accustomed); mocking and derisive in tone
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: When they told the monkey to veil her face, she answered: 'Why bother? This face got used to disgrace long ago.'