proverb · Words worth keeping
A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
Historical period not yet established
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.
What the words are saying
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.
Everyday example
A team stops revising a presentation’s appearance when the actual problem is an inaccurate calculation.
When to use it
Use it as an explicit analogy about addressing the right problem.
What it does not mean
The colour image is not a hierarchy of human worth or proof that people cannot change.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or 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
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 362 · Crow
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English