proverb · Words worth keeping
A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying pictures repeated washing failing to whiten a crow. As an analogy, it can distinguish an inherent characteristic from something superficial that effort can remove.
Example
A team stops revising a presentation’s appearance when the actual problem is an inaccurate calculation.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The attempt uses the wrong kind of change for the feature named. A careful figurative application asks whether the proposed action addresses the real issue, while avoiding the suggestion that people have fixed bad characters. Whiteness should not become a standard of human value; the useful contrast concerns a mistaken method, not superior colour.
When to use it
Use it as an explicit analogy about addressing the right problem.
Keep in mind
The colour image is not a hierarchy of human worth or proof that people cannot change.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English