ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരിമ്പും തൊഴിലും ഇരിക്കെ കെടും”
— English Translation:
Both iron and skill rust and decay when left idle. (Disuse corrupts the finest tools, just as lack of practice dulls the sharpest talents.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരപ്പാളിക്കിരിപ്പിടംകൊടുത്താൽ ചിരകാലത്തിനകത്തു ശിരഃകമലത്തിൽ കയറിരിപ്പാകും”
— English Translation:
Offer a mendicant a stool to sit on, and before long he will climb and seat himself upon your head. (Give someone an inch and they will take an ell; over-indulging opportunists breeds insolence.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരിമ്പുണ്ണും നീരുണ്ടൊ ഞെക്കിയാൽ കക്കൂ”
— English Translation:
Will water quenched inside iron ever squeeze back out under pressure? (What has been absorbed by a stone-hearted miser can never be recovered.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരപ്പാളി വെറ്റിലതിന്നണമെങ്കിൽ പുഴുവീടറിയണം”
— English Translation:
If a beggar craves luxury betel leaf, he must know which household discards it. (Those living off the charity of others must learn the exact avenues and loopholes to satisfy their indulgences.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുട്ടത്തു കൊണ്ട അടി”
— English Translation:
A blow struck in the dark. (A sudden setback or betrayal delivered from an unseen, anonymous source.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരയിട്ടാലെ മീൻപിടിക്കാവു”
— English Translation:
You must cast bait if you wish to catch fish. (Nothing ventured, nothing gained; worthwhile outcomes require prior investment.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുട്ടുകൊണ്ടു ഓട്ടയടച്ചാൽ വെട്ടം വീഴുമ്പൊൾ തഥൈവ”
— English Translation:
If you plug a breach with shadows, it remains wide open the moment light falls upon it. (Hiding defects with secrecy or deception provides zero protection when reality is exposed.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരവിഴുങ്ങീയ പാമ്പുപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like a python that has swallowed its prey whole. (Lethargic, bloated, and utterly incapable of stirring or taking action.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുതോണിയിൽ കാലുവച്ചാൽ വെള്ളത്തിൽ കിടക്കും”
— English Translation:
Place one foot in each of two boats, and you end up in the river. (Attempting to straddle conflicting loyalties or contradictory courses leads straight to disaster.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരിക്കുന്ന അമ്മമാരുടെ വാതിൽപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like the front door of matriarchs seated on the porch. (Constantly open and exposed to passersby, never closed to public view.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുത്തിയെ വെച്ചതുപോലെ”
— English Translation:
As if custom-seated and fitted into place. (Flawlessly apt, precise, and completely natural to the context.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരിക്കുന്നകൊമ്പു വരഞ്ഞാലൊ”
— English Translation:
What if you saw through the very bough you are sitting on? (Undermining the very authority, host, or patron that supports you is pure suicidal folly.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇരുന്നു മരം മുറിച്ചാൽ താൻ അടിയിലും മരം മുകളിലും”
— English Translation:
If you sit beneath a tree while chopping it down, you end up underneath and the timber on top. (Careless laziness and poor planning ensure that your own work crushes you.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആഴമുള്ളകുഴിക്കു നീളമുള്ള വടി”
— English Translation:
For a deep pit, you need a long stick. (Formidable, complex problems require tools and solutions of matching capacity.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇണയില്ലാത്തവനോടു ഇണകൂടിയാൽ ഇണഒമ്പതുംപോകും പത്താമതു താനുംപോകും; അമ്മേടപ്പനെ തെങ്ങേൽകേറ്റി, അപ്പംവെന്തുംവന്നു അമ്മേടപ്പൻ ചത്തുംവന്നു”
— English Translation:
Ally with an incompatible partner, and nine friends will leave while you yourself perish as the tenth; send grandfather up the palm, the sweet cake got fried, but grandfather plunged to his death. (Disastrous alliances bring total ruin, and pursuing small, reckless gains often costs everything of genuine worth.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇക്കരനിന്നു നോക്കുമ്പോൾ അക്കരപച്ച, അക്കരെ നിന്നു നോക്കുമ്പോൾ ഇക്കരപച്ച”
— English Translation:
From this bank the other bank looks green; standing on that bank this side looks green. (The grass is always greener on the other side.)