Provençal expression

fin emé fin valon rèn pèr doubluro

Wisdom

Literal translation

fine with fine is worth nothing as lining

Meaning

two clever schemers cancel each other out

Explanation

This proverb states that two equally cunning people, set against each other, produce nothing solid, much like the lining of a garment: fin emé fin valon rèn pèr doubluro reads literally fine with fine is worth nothing as lining. The adjective fin here carries the sense of clever, cunning, a rarer use than its more common sense of until. The technical comparison points to tailoring, where a fine, fragile fabric is backed with a coarser, sturdier one to give it body; two fine fabrics stacked together would fail at that task. Applied to human dealings, the proverb warns that two sly foxes cancel each other out without either prevailing, and that their partnership yields no useful outcome. The register belongs to folk wisdom, close to a saying, used to comment on a clash of schemers or a suspect alliance between two people too clever to trust one another.

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Other expressions on the same theme

i pu fin li braio ié toumboneven the cleverest can slip up jougariéu ma tèsto à coupaI'd bet my life on it i'ai mes lou noum de la vióuletoI've given up on it for good es pèr trop la sarra que s'escapo l'anguielogrip too tightly and it slips away au bord dóu baus i'a lou debaussadouat the cliff's edge lies the drop a forço de trop courre, vous roumpès pièi lou mourrerun too hard and you'll fall flat on your face