Proverb from Argentina

Spanish

Al que nace barrigudo es al ñudo que lo fajen.

“If someone is born pot-bellied, it is no use binding him with a sash.”

Meaning

Natural inclinations are almost impossible to overcome. Segovia calls it a gaucho proverb “que advierte que es casi imposible vencer las inclinaciones naturales.”

Source

Lisandro Segovia, Diccionario de argentinismos, neologismos y barbarismos (Buenos Aires, 1911), p. 644, on archive.org

Segovia lists “al ñudo” as a colloquial phrase meaning “al cohete”: without reason or purpose, in vain.

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What is a proverb? A short, well-known, and memorable saying that expresses a common truth, practical experience, or piece of advice.

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