ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണി ഒന്നുപൊട്ടിയാൽ ചങ്ങലയും പൊട്ടി”
— English Translation:
If a single link snaps, the whole chain is broken. (A system is only as strong as its weakest link; one single failure compromises the entire structure.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടതെല്ലാം കൊണ്ടാൽ കൊണ്ടതെല്ലാം കടം”
— English Translation:
If you buy everything your eyes behold, everything you own will end up in debt. (Unchecked impulse buying and living beyond one's means lead straight to bankruptcy.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണിൽ കൊള്ളേണ്ടതു പുരികത്തേൽ കൊള്ളിച്ചു”
— English Translation:
What was aimed for the eye landed on the eyebrow. (A close brush with tragedy; escaping with a minor scrape from what could have been a fatal blow.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടതു തീണ്ടൽ, കേട്ടതു പുല”
— English Translation:
Everything seen is ritual defilement; everything heard is ceremonial pollution. (Neurotic, suffocating orthodoxy that invents taboos and offenses out of ordinary daily occurrences.)

“”
— English Translation:
One who steals the pupil right out of an open, seeing eye. (An audaciously brazen and extraordinarily slick swindler who robs you right in plain sight.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടപ്പോൾ കരിമ്പ്, പിടിച്ചപ്പോൾ ഇരുമ്പ്”
— English Translation:
Appeared as sweet sugarcane when seen, but turned out to be cold iron when grasped. (A deceptive exterior; what looked alluring and soft proved rigid, harsh, and painful upon closer contact.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണുകാണാത്തവൻ കണ്ണാടിയിൽ നോക്കുമ്പോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like a blind man staring into a mirror. (An utterly futile, absurd endeavor that yields neither insight nor purpose.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടതെല്ലാം പറഞ്ഞാൽ കണ്ണിനു ദോഷം”
— English Translation:
If you blabber about everything your eyes witness, harm will fall upon your eyes. (A warning that unrestrained gossiping and lack of discretion invite dangerous retaliation.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണുചിമ്മി ഇരുട്ടാക്കി”
— English Translation:
Shutting one's own eyes to claim the world has gone dark. (Willful denial of reality; pretending a problem does not exist by refusing to face it.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കടലിൽ കായം കലക്കിയതു പോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like dissolving a pinch of asafoetida in the vast sea. (A tiny contribution swallowed up and lost in an immense expanse; a drop in the ocean.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കട്ടികൂടിയാൽ കമ്പയും ചെല്ലും”
— English Translation:
If the porridge is cooked rich and thick enough, even the stirring stick can be swallowed with it. (When the prize or reward is made tempting enough, people will overlook even the most unpalatable conditions.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കടലമ്മ പെണ്ണെങ്കിൽ ചരുവെങ്കിലും പെറും”
— English Translation:
If Mother Ocean were truly a woman, she would give birth to at least a brass bowl! (Mocking wild superstitions and empty, grandiose personifications.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കടയ്ക്കൽ = മൂട്ടിൽ”
— English Translation:
[Linguistic gloss from source text: "Kadakkal" signifies at the root, base, or trunk.]

“Malayalam Proverb:
കടലിനു സമമൊ കുശവൻ മണ്ണെടുത്ത കുഴി”
— English Translation:
Can the muddy pit where a potter dug clay ever rival the ocean? (An absurd comparison between a trivial hollow and the mighty deep.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കട്ടിൽകാലേൽക്കോണ്ടേ കൊടിയിട്ടാറെയും തൃപ്തിവരാത്തവൾ”
— English Translation:
A woman who remains unsatisfied even when a victory banner is planted right at the foot of her bed. (A pathologically ungrateful, insatiable person whom no amount of luxury or pampering can ever please.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കടലുവറ്റി കാക്ക പറക്കുമ്പോൾ കടലുവറ്റി ചാകും”
— English Translation:
Waiting for the ocean to dry up so crows can feast on stranded fish only results in the watcher dying of exhaustion. (Waiting in vain for an impossible miracle instead of taking practical action.)