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Fox guarding the hen house seems like the English equivalent to that.
by throwawaylinux 4y ago
Fox guarding the hen house seems like the English equivalent to that.
- cmarschner 4y agoThat seems to imply maliciousness on the fox‘ side. The goat is merely ignorant.
- drjasonharrison 4y agoOr the goat is contained in too small of an area for too long. Much like an inexperienced person without supervision...
- lostlogin 4y agoSome goats are extremely malicious.
- mechanical_bear 4y agoYeah, you ever look at their evil little eyes. If that isn’t maliciousness distilled…
- atoav 4y agoGoats are fundamental anarchists. They are not evil, they just have a chaotic energy beyond comprehension.
- 0898 4y agoIt's similar, but not quite equivalent. The fox is malicious. It knows it will destroy the property, whereas the goat is happily oblivious to the destruction it brings.
- throwawaylinux 4y ago> is not just incompetent, but where he will actually cause damage - for instance because he has ulterior motives. That made me think it was more. And anyway, as much as the fox does with chickens, the goat knows it will set about to kill and eat plants. There's no real reason to call the fox knowingly malicious and the goat not.
- 0898 4y ago>There's no real reason to call the fox knowingly malicious and the goat not. I think we imagine foxes to have a level of cunning that a placid goat lacks.
- hinkley 4y agoWhile the fox features in a larger variety of animistic stories, the goat is not without its own set of parables.
- feet 4y agoOnly because their prey has a nervous system
- hutzlibu 4y agoHa, you have not worked with goats before, have you? Even some sheep like to sneak up and attack from behind. Goats even more so.. But sure most goats lack that bravery, but some have it and the cunning to attack and get to places they are not supposed to be.
- 0898 4y agoTouché, I have zero experience of goats. Thanks for putting me right!
- redbar0n 4y agoNorwegian equivalent: «To let the billy watch the sack of oats.» A billy/buck goat is a male goat.
- hendrikrassmann 4y agoThe German proverb is also about a "Bock", same word, same meaning.
- BadOakOx 4y agoIn Hungarian, we mix the two of yours: Goat guarding the cabbage.