Can You Explain This Proverb?

I am so cheap that I started watching Asian dramas because I didn't want to buy Chinese food just because I love reading proverbs. I hope someone will explain the proverb below
@ToastedRossi @Ruyi @Lissi @MangoGuy

a misbehaving cow will grow horns on butt

 

it means the cow will get giant hemorrhoids after the assraping for being a naughty naughty cow

 

I dont know for sure but as a guess im assuming, it will be whipped so much it will develop calluses on its rear.

 

I've never come across this one before but it looks like it means that another cow will gore the misbehaving one from behind. It should mean something like if you behave poorly, someone on your side is going to punish you for it.

 

I’m sorry, but if a proverb is that difficult to interpret. It’s a bad proverb to use

 

It's from a Korean Murim Manhwa called Bowblade. The male protagonist believed a girl to be rude and used the proverb to rebuke her indirectly.

 

(I don't speak the language nor fully understand everything. Just speculations.)
I don't think I have ever come across this. But trying to interpret the origin, the cow has already misbehaved. And most likely as a result of it, the cow has grown cows on its butt, which is not the natural way. Probably the meaning is that an unruly person is outing themselves out for who they are, and thus painting a target over themselves.
Edit: Another interpretation can be about beauty and attraction. naturally, a cow which has horns on its head is natural. but if it has horns on its butt, it is not capable of procreating. So perhaps, could be, the intent is to say that you are generally someone who is unlikable, or rather unfuckable.

 

I'd like to know the original proverb in Korean xD

 

Wait, how is this related?? XD

 

If you consume lots of wuxia, you hear a lot of Chinese proverbs eg the manhwa I saw this.

Maybe the average drama fan doesn't pay attention because they are distracted by the pretty leads but elderly people use lots of proverbs in dramas

 

Maybe the original text would help?

 

I don't have it

 

But... didn't you say it was Korean? Why would there be a Chinese proverb in a Korean manhwa? And how's this related to food? I'm so confused orz

 

Just my guess here, but I always interpret things wrong lol. Upon my first reading I thought it meant that someone who misbehaves will do things for the sake of misbehaving even if it's detrimental to them, just to spite others. Then I saw @MangoGuy 's interpretation and it makes more sense.

 

I’m pretty sure it’s related to a person being backstabbed or met with a thorn on their own side of they behave badly. Be sure not to misbehave so you don’t turn your friends into your enemies I think??
Since cow horns on the backside rather than the face indicate something negative and opposite of ur desired result. Which means misbehave and you will be met with the opposite of what you want or be harmed. Idk

edit: might also have something to do with your superior or someone above you punishing you if you misbehave since cows are usually kept by farmers and are farm animals. Or the one who protects you, is ur parent/superior may punish u for misbehaving. Proverbs can have a lot of different meanings by logic if you don’t know the origin of it.

 

The Korean language originated from China. Confuscianism too. So lots of Chinese proverbs and phrases are still used.
Chinese was the official language in Korea until Hangul was invented
Korean Murim novels are also set in China.

You get fortune cookies when you buy Chinese food. Chinese proverbs are written in said cookies.


I thought it meant that you get spanked a lot and your butt gets swollen with bumps but I felt that might have been too obvious.
@MangoGuy @ludagad

 

Personally, I feel that then it would be a lost in translation. If that interpretation is the intended one.

 

Yeah, still makes more sense than mine. I just took the horns literally lol.

 

The expression just means that "naughty people will do naughty things." There are two versions of the idiom, likely due to language change, and this particular one is the second.

The "horns" part is meant to be taken literally because it's culturally understood as a symbol of naughtiness or malicious mischief. It's similar to what devils' horns symbolize in the West.

The first version is: 못된 송아지 뿔부터 난다
TL: Naughty calves will be born horns first
The idiom is meant to express that naughty calves will be naughty even when they're being born...because ouch, their poor mothers... (With additional meaning to the fact that they came into the world horns/naughtiness first.)

This second version that OP was confused by is: 못된 송아지 엉덩이에 뿔이 난다 (also written as 송아지 못된 것은 엉덩이에 뿔 난다)
TL: Naughty calves will grow horns on their butts too
This literally just means that the calf in question is so naughty that they'll grow horns (again, culturally understood as a symbol of naughtiness) on their butt too, in addition to the ones they already have on their head.

It's really not as deep or profound as some people are making it out to be, and it is easy to understand if you're familiar with the culture it came from. There is absolutely no need to bash on another language's idiom just because you personally don't happen to have the right tools to interpret it.

 

I wasn't bashing the idiom though. I don't know how my words could be interpreted as bashing.

I said the idiom was used when bashing a character. You misunderstood me. Unless you are talking to someone else.

Thank you for the explanation