Ẹni a fẹ́ kì í ṣìwà hù.
Character formed and deformed
Original
Ẹni a fẹ́ kì í ṣìwà hù.
Word-for-word gloss
- Ẹni a fẹ́ one whom we love kì í ṣìwà hù does-not grow wrong-character.
Idiomatic English
"A beloved person can do nothing wrong."
Di source no name any translator.
Wetin e mean
Affection suspends judgement of character.
When dem dey use am
Owomoyela: "To be loved is to be infallible" Said sarcastically, of favouritism.
Notes on di translation
Ṣìwà, from ṣì (to err) plus ìwà, is a single word for having bad character, and it takes the same verb hù as good character does. The proverb is descriptive, not approving: it reports a bias rather than endorsing it, and its normal use is to point out that a bias is operating.