Àjàjà ṣoge àparò, abàyà kelú.
Character, appearance and the judgement of others
Original
Àjàjà ṣoge àparò, abàyà kelú.
Literal gloss
- Àjàjà uncharacteristically ṣoge dressed-up àparò partridge, abàyà kelú with-chest thrust-out.
Idiomatic English
"The uncharacteristically spruced-up partridge swells its chest."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
Newly acquired finery produces exaggerated display.
Used when
Owomoyela: "The nouveau riche always goes to extremes in consumption"
Notes on the translation
Abàyà kelú is an epithet of the form used in oríkì praise poetry, so the proverb mimics praise while delivering mockery. That double register, praise-form carrying ridicule, is a standard Yorùbá device and is completely lost in translation.