Dictionary

the shoemaker's children go barefoot en · X

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. One often neglects those closest to oneself; a tradesman may ironically neglect or postpone his own home's need for his trade's services.
   • Traditionally, ‘the shoemaker's children go barefoot’; i.e., users of computational statistics ignore statistical issues—such as sensitivity analysis—of their simulation results. 2004, Yuichi Mori, Handbook of Computational Statistics: Concepts and Methods, Springer, →ISBN, page 498:
   • I've got a lovely wife who's a professional photographer, three lovely grown children, a lovely old dog with bad hips and a good disposition, and an old house which is always in desperate need of repairs. My wife says that’s because the shoemaker's kids always go barefoot and the carpenter’s house always has a leaky roof. 1999, Stephen King, “Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling”, in Hearts in Atlantis, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 493:
   • So we eventually listened to the unfinished studio CD through his daughter Eve's ghetto blaster. I made the predictable joke about the shoemaker's children who always go barefoot. It had been the same at Elton John's place, Bono revealed. 2005, Michka Assayas, “Faith Versus Luck”, in Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas, New York: Riverhead books, →ISBN, page 309:
   • Just as the shoemaker's children go barefoot and the carpenter's children live under a leaky roof, I knew this day would come. I am a church worker whose child has stopped going to church. 2022, Valerie Schultz, A Hill of Beans: The Grace of Everyday Troubles, Liturgical Press, →ISBN, page 17:

Relateds

cobbler, keep to your last · shoemaker, stick to your last

Synonyms

the cobbler's children go barefoot · the cobbler's children have no shoes · the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot · the cobbler's children are the worst shod

Translations (28)

eo ĉe botisto la ŝuo estas ĉiam kun truo (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · eu errementariaren etxean, zotza burduntzi (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · nan-hbl 燒瓷的食缺，織蓆的睏椅 /烧瓷的食缺 (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · es en casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · cs kovářova kobyla chodí bosa (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · wa c' est todi les savtîs ki sont les pus må tchåssîs (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · gl en casa do ferreiro, coitelo de pau (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · wa nolu n' est pus må tchåssî ki l' feme d' on coibjhî (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · de die Kinder des Schusters haben die schlechtesten Schuhe (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · tr terzi kendi söküğünü dikemez (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · da smedens hest og skomagerens kone har ofte de dårligste sko (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · it in casa del ciabattino le scarpe sono sfondate (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · wa c' est todi l' coibjhî l' pus må tchåssî (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · pt em casa de ferreiro, o espeto é de pau (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · nl de kinderen van de schoenmaker gaan barrevoets (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · wa c' est todi l' coibjhî k' est l' pus må tchåssî (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · fi suutarin lapsilla ei ole kenkiä (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · srn temreman oso no abi bangi (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · sv skomakarens hustru och smedens märr är alltid sämst skodda (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · fr les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · it il figlio del calzolaio va in giro con le scarpe rotte (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · it il calzolaio ha le scarpe rotte (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · it il sarto va con i calzoni strappati (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · pt casa de ferreiro, espeto de pau (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · vec a mojer del scorper va in giro coe scarpe rotte (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · ms anak kera di hutan disusui, anak sendiri di rumah kebuluran (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · pt em casa de ferreiro, espeto de pau (one often neglects those closest to oneself) · pl szewc bez butów chodzi (one often neglects those closest to oneself)