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Snake and stick

Posted by HCD on February 22, 2001

In Reply to: Snake and stick posted by R. Berg on February 19, 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?

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