Literal translation
on the cleverest, the breeches fall too
Meaning
even the cleverest can slip up
Explanation
The proverb reminds us that even the shrewdest person eventually slips up, just as trousers can fall down on anyone no matter how skillfully they are held. Literally, i pu fin li braio ié toumbon reads on the cleverest, the breeches fall too: braio names trousers or traditional breeches, and the image of this garment slipping despite every precaution conveys the idea that no cunning is foolproof. The register is familiar and deliberately comic, the falling trousers suggesting an unexpected and slightly ridiculous humiliation, fit to puncture the vanity of someone who thought themselves too clever to be caught out. The saying is used to put a schemer's success into perspective or to console oneself after a mistake, recalling that no one, however habitually sharp minded, is safe from a blunder.