the shoemaker's children go barefoot

the shoemaker's children go barefoot

English

Proverb

the shoemaker's children go barefoot

1. One often neglects those closest to oneself.

Synonyms

• the cobbler's children are the worst shod
• shoemaker's son always goes barefoot

Translations

one often neglects those closest to oneself

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Arabic: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 鞋匠兒子打赤腳／鞋匠儿子打赤脚 (xiéjiang érzi dǎ chìjiǎo) Czech: kovářova kobyla chodí bosa (cs) (literally “blacksmith's mare walks barefoot”) Danish: smedens hest og skomagerens kone har ofte de dårligste sko (literally “the blacksmith's horse and the shoemaker's wife often have the worst footwear”) Dutch: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: ĉe botisto la ŝuo estas ĉiam kun truo (literally “in a shoemaker's house the shoe has always a hole”) Finnish: suutarin lapsilla ei ole kenkiä (literally “the shoemaker's children have no shoes”) French: les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés (fr) (literally “the shoemakers always wear the worst shoes”) Galician: en casa do ferreiro, coitelo de pau (literally "in the smith's house, wooden knife") German: die Kinder des Schusters haben die schlechtesten Schuhe (literally “the shoemaker's children have the worst shoes”) Hebrew: הַסַנְדְּלָר הוֹלֵךְ יָחֵף‎ (hasandlár holékh yakhéf, literally “the shoemaker walks barefoot”) Italian: in casa del ciabattino le scarpe sono sfondate (literally “in a shoemaker's house shoes are broken”), il figlio del calzolaio va in giro con le scarpe rotte (literally “the shoemaker's son gets around with broken shoes”), il calzolaio ha le scarpe rotte (literally “the shoemaker has broken shoes”), il sarto va con i calzoni strappati (literally “the tailor gets around with ripped trousers”) Japanese: 紺屋の白袴 (ja) (こうやのしろばかま, kōya-no shirobakama, literally “a navy blue shop's white skirt”), 医者の不養生 (ja) (いしゃのふようじょう, isha-no fuyōjō, literally “the doctor's neglect of his health”) Persian: کوزه‌گر از کوزه شکسته آب می‌خورد‎ (kuzegar az kuze šekaste âb mixorad, literally “The potter drinks water from broken pots.”) Polish: szewc bez butów chodzi (pl) (literally “the shoemaker goes without boots”) Portuguese: em casa de ferreiro, o espeto é de pau, casa de ferreiro, espeto de pau (literally “in a blacksmith's house the skewer is made of wood”) Russian: сапо́жник хо́дит без сапо́г (sapóžnik xódit bez sapóg, literally “the shoemaker goes without boots”) Spanish: en casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo (es) (literally “in a blacksmith's house the knife is made of wood”) Swedish: skomakarens hustru och smedens märr är alltid sämst skodda Tagalog: please add this translation if you can Turkish: terzi kendi söküğünü dikemez (literally “a tailor can't mend his/her own tear”) Venetian: a mojer del scorper va in giro coe scarpe rotte (literally “the shoemaker's wife gets around with broken shoes”) Walloon: c' est todi l' coibjhî k' est l' pus må tchåssî (wa) (literally “it's always the shoemaker who wears the worst shoes”), c' est todi l' coibjhî l' pus må tchåssî (wa) (literally “it's always the shoemaker the one who wears the worst shoes”), c' est todi les savtîs ki sont les pus må tchåssîs (wa) (literally “it's always shoemakers who wear the worst shoes”), nolu n' est pus må tchåssî ki l' feme d' on coibjhî (wa) (literally “no one wears worst shoes than a shoemaker's wife”) Yiddish: אַלע שוסטערס גייען באָרוועס‎ (ale shusters geyen borves, literally “all shoemakers walk barefoot”)

See also

• cobbler, keep to your last
• shoemaker, stick to your last

References

• John Heywood (1538), chapter XI, in Proverbes, Part I, page 147
• Robert Burton (1621) The Anatomy of Melancholy, page 2112