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  What it means

  “The cobbler goes without shoes.” Experts often neglect to apply their own skills to themselves — the person best placed to help is sometimes the last to benefit from their own expertise.

  English equivalent

  The cobbler's children have no shoes.

  Vocabulary

  • szewc — cobbler, shoemaker
  • but — shoe
  • chodzić — to walk, to go

  Grammar note

  'Bez butów' uses the genitive plural of 'but' after the preposition 'bez' (without). 'Chodzi' is third-person singular present of 'chodzić'.

  Cultural context

  One of the most widely known Polish proverbs, used whenever someone fails to practise what they preach or neglects their own affairs while tending to others'.

  Beginner

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