🤖 Literally, in English
“A wolf in sheep's hide.”
Вовк в овечій шкурі. Vovk v ovechiy shkuri
🤨 What does it ACTUALLY mean? →
🇬🇧 What you'd actually say
“A wolf in sheep's clothing.”
also: “Someone dangerous pretending to be harmless.” · “He's not what he seems.”
- 📖 Meaning
- A dangerous or dishonest person who looks kind and harmless.
- 💡 Why it's funny
- There is barely a difference at all — the literal version says 'hide' instead of 'clothing', which makes the wolf sound like it did a worse job with the costume.
- 🧭 Closest English idiom
- “A wolf in sheep's clothing.”
- 📝 Explanation
- Neutral to formal; works in conversation, journalism and speeches alike.
- 🏛 Cultural context
- Both languages inherited the image from the same Biblical passage, which is why they match so closely.
🧠 Learn
- harmless (adjective) — not able or likely to cause damage — безпечний, нешкідливий “The dog looks scary but he's harmless.”
- pretend (verb) — to act as if something is true when it is not — прикидатися “He pretended not to hear me.”
🗣 In context
Обережно з ним — це вовк в овечій шкурі.
Be careful with him — he's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
🎧 Hear the contrast
dontpushthehorses.xyz
