proverb · Words worth keeping
One scabbed sheep infects the whole flock.
One scabbed sheep infects the whole flock.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying makes one scabbed sheep infect the whole flock. As an explicit analogy, a problem in one part of a group is imagined to spread through the rest.
Example
A group examines how a repeated process error reaches several tasks and corrects the process rather than blaming a person’s identity.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
One and whole make the effect absolute and large. A responsible human application focuses on a particular practice or shared process rather than calling a person contaminated or treating exclusion as automatically justified. The verse does not establish a veterinary diagnosis or universal spread. Its useful question concerns actual connections through which a problem may affect others.
When to use it
Use it as a stated analogy about a connected group and a spreading problem.
Keep in mind
The image is not veterinary advice or a justification for stigmatising people.
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