07 April, 2015
karishkirdi kancha baksang dele tokoigo kachat (Kyrgyz) no matter how well you feed a wolf it always looks at the forest
gorbatogo mogila ispravit (Russian) only the grave will cure the hunchback
chassez le naturel, il revient au gallop (French) chase away the natural and it returns at a gallop
aus einem Ackergaul kann man kein Rennpferd machen (Swabian German) you cannot turn a farm horse into a racehorse
dhanab al kalb a 'waj walaw hattaytu fi khamsin galib (Arabic) the dog's tail remains crooked even if it's put in fifty moulds
vuk dlaku mijenja ali æud nikada (Croatian) a wolf changes his coat but not his attitude
die katze lässt das mausen nicht (German) the cat will not abandon its habit of chasing mice
chi nasce quadrato non muore tondo (Italian) if you are born square you don't die round
Adam Jacot de Boinod is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from around the World, published by Penguin Books, and the creator of the iPhone App Tingo, a quiz on Interesting Words.