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Snake and stick and dog

Posted by R. Berg on February 22, 2001

In Reply to: Snake and stick posted by HCD on February 22, 2001

: : : : : : : In portuguese there is a saying that is: Matar a cobra e mostrar o pau, which in literal english would mean: To kill the snake and show the rod.I'd like to know if in english there is a corresponding saying and how it is written. Can somebody bring some light to this question?

: : : : : : Maybe someone else can help but I dont understand what the phrase/proverb means.

: : : : : : I googled your phrase in Portugese and came up with tons of hits to English-Portugese phrase translation sites.
: : : : : : Talk about losing something in the translation!!

: : : : : : Here are some more Portugese phrases that lose everything in the translation:

: : : : : : Soltar a franga = To release the hen.

: : : : : : Escreveu, nao leu, o pau comeu = Wrote, didn't read, the stick ate.

: : : : : : Se der bolo eu tiro meu corpo fora. = If it gives cake I take my body out!

: : : : : : Huh????????

: : : : :
: : : : : Bruce Kahl: in portuguese to kill the snake and show the stick has the following meaning: to do something and show the proof that one has done something, i.e., the person has condition to prove that he really did something. OK, HCD

: : : : Anyone can show a stick and SAY he killed a snake with it. A more convincing piece of evidence would be a dead snake. Is it possible that the proverb means to present evidence that is not proof?

: : : In this case anyone who find a dead snake can show it as a proof that he killed him.

: : Right, but I was presuming that sticks are easier to find than dead snakes.

: : Sometimes in English a person will describe something difficult or unpleasant that he or she has done and then say "and I have the scars to prove it." This expression is not usually meant literally. "I spent ten years studying Latin, and I have the scars to prove it."

: Everybody is making a big fuss about the proverb: To kill a snake and show the stick; but, I think it's because nobody is understanding the real meaning of the subject. When I first formulated the expression my intention was that somebody could tell me the corresponding proverb in english. I am absolutely sure that this proverb exist all over the world, with the same meaning, not with the same literaly expression...even in Mars, perhaps.Generaly a proverb has the same meaning all over the world, although it is not formulated in the same way.For example: In portuguese there is a proverb that says: Despir um santo para vestir outro, which translated literaly into english should be: Undress a saint to dress another. However, I know that the corresponding proverb in english is not the latter, but the following: Rob Peter to pay Paul.
: Another example: in portuguese: Cachorro que late não morde, which translated literaly into english should be: Dog that barks doesn't bite. I know however that the corresponding proverb in english is: His bark is worse than his bite.
: Dit you get the difference?

The English proverb that corresponds to "Dog that barks doesn't bite" is "A barking dog never bites."

Some of us have been offering sayings in English that share some meaning with the Portuguese one about the snake. We have asked questions to find out exactly what the proverb means so that we could think of one in English that has the same meaning. It may be that English doesn't have a proverb that matches that one exactly. Sorry, but I don't agree that all languages (cultures) have the same proverbs. For instance, African cultures have proverbs that have no equivalent in English.

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