«نَايْبَكْ فِي الدِّسْتْ، وِالْمَغْرَفَهْ تَايْهَهْ»

The saying ridicules a person who admits that someone else is entitled to something but then invents a pretext for not handing it over. The claim is acknowledged in words, while a trivial, conveniently timed obstacle is blamed for the fact that nothing ever arrives.

The picture is pointedly absurd. The meal is cooked and the person's allotted share sits waiting in the pot, yet the serving spoon has supposedly gone missing. The implication is that the difficulty is fabricated and the withholding is intentional, so the excuse itself is exposed as a polite form of refusal.

Use it about someone who keeps postponing what another person is owed, such as wages, an inheritance portion, or a promised favor, by citing conveniently timed obstacles. It is usually said with irony, by the wronged party or an observer, to show that the excuse is hollow.