Ukhala ngaso linye

He cries with one eye.

What it means

Real grief doesn't pour from one eye only. That's the giveaway for sympathy that is staged rather than felt: pretending to care without actually caring.

Zulu · Southern Africa

Source and context

From: Zulu, Southern Africa

Source: isiZulu (South Africa) oral-tradition proverb (Ukhala ngaso linye), translation and explanation from the Ulwazi Programme's "Zulu Proverbs" page (ulwaziprogramme.org). Earlier recorded here as also in C.L.S. Nyembezi, "Zulu Proverbs"; that book was not read

The source explains it: when a person pretends to be sorry when he/she is not. The wording of the meaning is ours.

Respect

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