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Kutuka chembere / kutuka une nhekwe yefodya

Shona Definition

Kana munhu achida kuti nhingi ataure naye, anoita zvimwe zvinhu nezvishereketo zvinotora mwoyo wouya dzamara amutanga. Zvikuru vasikana, unonzwa vachiita chikuwe chinoenda kure kuti vakomana vauye kwavari.

English Translation

You can only take on an old woman if you come holding a snuff gourd — that is, you need something appealing in hand before a person will engage with you. Anyone wanting to draw another's interest behaves in ways designed to attract attention, as a girl does with a boy who is ignoring her.

Cultural Context

“Said of someone who uses an inducement or showy behaviour to win another person's attention, and as a remark on female vanity.”

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This is a variant of

Mashanje echakata / kutsvukira mumuti kuti ndiposherwe

Kana munhu achida kuti nhingi ataure naye, anoita zvimwe zvinhu nezvishereketo zvinotora mwoyo wouya dzamara amutanga. Zvikuru vasikana, unonzwa vachiita chikuwe chinoenda kure kuti vakomana vauye kwavari.

The chakata fruit reddens conspicuously on the tree so that it will be pelted down — that is, one makes a show of oneself in order to be noticed. People who want another's attention behave in ways calculated to attract it.