# A leopard cannot change its spots



## Messquito

A leopard cannot change its spots:
something you say that means a person's character, especially if it is bad, will not change, even if they pretend that it will.

Do you have similar expressions?

In Chinese we have:
狗改不了吃屎(A dog cannot get out of the habit of eating shit.)


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## Dymn

Spanish:

_Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda._

Although the [female] monkey dresses in silk, she remains a monkey.


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## ger4

German:

_Die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht._

The cat (i.e. cats in general) doesn't stop (give up the habit of) catching mice.


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## apmoy70

Greek:

(1) *«Ο λύκος κι αν εγέρασε, μαλλί αλλάζει κι όχι μυαλό.»* [o ˈlikos ci͜ an eˈʝeɾase maˈli aˈlazi ci͜ ˈoçi mɲaˈlo] --> _the more the wolf gets old, changes hair and not brain (i.e. mentality)_ 

(2) *«Ο λύκος την τρίχα αλλάζει, χούι δεν αλλάζει.»* [o ˈlikos tin ˈtrixa aˈlazi ˈxu.i ðen aˈlazi] --> _the wolf changes hair, doesn't change habits_

Some etymology
-MoGr masc. noun *«λύκος»* [ˈlikos] --> _wolf_ < Classical masc. noun *«λύκος» lúkŏs* --> _wolf_ (PIE *u̯ĺkʷo- _wolf_ cf Skt. वृक (vr̥ka), Lat. lupus, Proto-Germanic *wulfaz, Proto-Slavic *wilkas).

-MoGr v. *«αλλάζω»* [aˈlazo] --> _to change, alter, modify_ < Classical denominative v. *«ἀλλάσσω» ăllássō* (Attic *«ἀλλάττω» ălláttō*) --> _to change, alter_ < Classical nominal *«ἄλλος» ắllŏs* --> _other_ (PIE *h₂el-io̯- _other_ cf Skt. अन्य (anya), _different, other_, Lat. alius, ToA ālak/ToB alyek, Proto-Germanic *aljaz, Arm. այլ (ayl), _other_, OIr. aile > Ir. eile, Proto-Slavic *alje, _but_ > Cz./Svk./Pol. ale, BCS ali/али). 

-MoGr fem. *«τρίχα»* [ˈtrixa] --> _hair, bodily hair_ < Classical 3rd declension fem. noun *«θρίξ» tʰrík͡s* (nom. sing.), *«τριχός» trĭkʰós* (gen. sing.) with obscure etymology.

-MoGr colloquialism *«χούι»* [ˈxu.i] (neut. nom. sing.), *«χούγια»* [ˈxuʝa] (neut. nom. pl.) --> _habit(s)_ < Turk. huy, _temper, bad temper_


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## Encolpius

The English phrase comes from Bible: Jeremiah 13:23

*Hungarian*: *Kutyából nem lesz szalonna.* ["dog will not become bacon"]

(I haven't ever found a similar Czech phrase, I wonder what natives will say)


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## DaylightDelight

Japanese:

三つ子の魂百まで [mitsugo no tamashi hyaku made]
What a person learns at the age of three will last until the age of one hundred.

馬鹿は死ななきゃなおらない [baka wa shinanakya naora nai]
Death is the only remedy for stupidity. (A stupid person remains stupid until he/she dies.)


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## Encolpius

DaylightDelight said:


> Japanese:
> 三つ子の魂百まで [mitsugo no tamashi hyaku made]
> What a person learns at the age of three will last until the age of one hundred.



Are you sure that is the best translation?


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## DaylightDelight

Encolpius said:


> Are you sure that is the best translation?


I tried to translate it as literal as possible, but the following might be better:
What a person *is* at the age of three will remain until the age of one hundred.
or even more literally:
A three years old's soul lasts until the age of one hundred.


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## Encolpius

Sorry, misunderstanding. 
I think your Japanese phrase means a little bit different than the original English phrase. Messquito wrote it is mostly about *bad characters*.


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## DaylightDelight

Encolpius said:


> I think your Japanese phrase means a little bit different than the original English phrase. Messquito wrote it is mostly about *bad characters*.


Right.  三つ子の魂百まで can be used for both good and bad traits, though the phrase itself is rather neutral -- it just states that a person does not really change over time.


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## Ectab

Arabic:

من شب على شيء شاب عليه
man shabba 3alaa shay'in shaaba 3alayhi
Who became a young doing something, will be old doing it.
means when someone is used to do something as a young, will still do it even when they become old.

الطبع يغلب التطبع
aT-Tab3u yaghlibu-taTabbu3a.
The (inborn\natural\innate) character (of someone) predominates\prevail over (their) act of getting a (different) character.


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## Messquito

江山易改，本性難移
It's easier to change the courses of the rivers or the shapes of the mountains; (compared to how) it's hard to change a person's nature.


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## bibax

In Czech I should say (not quite the same like the English phrase):

*Přirozenost je železná košile.* _(nature [of a person] is a mail shirt)_

more common is: *Zvyk je železná košile.* _(habit is a mail shirt)_
and: *Zvyk je druhá přirozenost.* _(habit is second nature, from Latin consuetudo altera natura)_


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## apmoy70

bibax said:


> In Czech I should say (not quite the same like the English phrase):
> 
> *Přirozenost je železná košile.* _(nature [of a person] is a mail shirt)_
> 
> more common is: *Zvyk je železná košile.* _(habit is a mail shirt)_
> and: *Zvyk je druhá přirozenost.* _(habit is second nature, from Latin consuetudo altera natura)_


Thank you for reminding me that we too use the learned (Aristotelian) fossilised expression:
*«Ἔξις δευτέρα φύσις»* (in MoGr pronunciation) [ˈek͡sis ðefˈteɾa ˈfisis] --> _Habit (is) second nature_.

*«Ἔξις» ék͡sis* (fem. nom. sing.), *«ἔξεως» ék͡sĕōs* (fem. gen. sing.) --> _habitual tendency, wontedness_ is deverbal from the stem of the future form *«ἔξω» ék͡sō* of the v. *«ἔχω» ékʰō* --> _to possess, retain, have_ (PIE *seǵʰ- _to hold, have_ cf Skt. सहते (sahate), _to bear, endure, tolerate_, Proto-Germanic *segaz > Ger. Sieg, Eng. sig, Dt. zege, Swe. seger).
«Ἔξις» initially meant _possession, the condition of having property_. Aristotle in his ethics attributes moral standards to the word and after him, it describes _the permanent condition as produced by practice_, i.e. _habitude_.


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## Red Arrow

Dymn said:


> Spanish:
> 
> _Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda._
> 
> Although the [female] monkey dresses in silk, she remains a monkey.


We have a similar proverb: Al draagt een aap een gouden ring, het is en blijft een lelijk ding. (Even if an ape/a monkey would wear a golden ring, it will always be an ugly thing)

But it's about appearances, not about your personality.


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## Messquito

English:
You can't put a silk hat on a pig.

Chinese:
牛牽到北京還是牛。 A cow is a cow even if you take it to Peking.
*朽木不可雕也。 A decayed timber cannot be carved. (It has an extended connotation: uselessness)



Dymn said:


> Spanish:
> 
> _Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda._
> 
> Although the [female] monkey dresses in silk, she remains a monkey.



Similar one in Hokkien:
猴穿衫還是猴 A monkey with clothes is still a monkey.


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## Sardokan1.0

*Sardinian :*

_abba pistone pìstat, abba est e abba ìstat (the pounder crushes water, water is and water remains)_

_quìe nàschet tundu no mòrit quadru (who is born round can't die squared)_


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## ilocas2

Czech:

*levhart nemůže změnit své skvrny* - leopard can't change its spots


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## Armas

Finnish: _tiikeri ei pääse raidoistaan_ literally "a tiger doesn't get rid of its stripes", _pantteri/leopardi ei pääse pilkuistaan_ "a panther/leopard doesn't get rid of its spots".


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## ThomasK

Dutch: _*een vos verliest zijn haren, maar niet zijn streken*_ (a fox loses its hairs, not its bad manners).


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## frequency

Encolpius said:


> Are you sure that is the best translation?





Encolpius said:


> Sorry, misunderstanding.
> I think your Japanese phrase means a little bit different than the original English phrase. Messquito wrote it is mostly about *bad characters*.


You're right. 三つ子の魂百まで means _As the boy, so the man_.


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## 810senior

三つ子の魂百まで(the nature/character of when you are three will stay the same until you are hundred) is focused on the fact that the habit you had as a child doesn't easily turn into a good state after as long as you don't try fixing it much earlier.



DaylightDelight said:


> Japanese:
> 馬鹿は死ななきゃなおらない [baka wa shinanakya naora nai]
> Death is the only remedy for stupidity. (A stupid person remains stupid until he/she dies.)


So close but no cigar. What is to this saying is stupidity but not a bad habit.


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## Penyafort

*Catalan*

Two existing but little used proverbs with that meaning:

*· La cabra avesada a saltar, salta i saltarà*. 
_Goats used to leap, they leap now and always will.
_
*· Cada criatura fa segons natura.*
_Every creature acts according to nature._​The literal translation of the English sentence, following the source in Catalan bibles, is

_A leopard cannot change its spots._
Un lleopard no pot canviar les seves clapes.​
But it is not used as a proverb.


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## bibax

Czech:

*Mladý hlupák – jednoho dne starý hlupák.*
_Young dolt – some day old dolt._

It contradicts the cliché that one gets wise with age.


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## Anja.Ann

In Italian: "Il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio", literally: the wolf can lose its fur but not its bad habits.


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## ninecats

Huylu huyundan vazgeçmez (Someone who has unwanted habits/a nature doesn't give up on them).
Can çıkar huy çıkmaz. Even if someone dies, his nature won't change.


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## Kotlas

Russian:
*Ско́лько во́лка ни корми́, он всё в лес смо́трит *[skólʹko vólka ni kormí, on vsjó v les smótrit] (literally, _however good you feed the wolf, it still looks onto the forest_)
*Чёрного кобеля́ не отмо́ешь добела́ *[čórnovo kobeljá ne otmóješʹ dobelá] (literally, _you can’t wash a black dog to make it white_)
*Зарека́лась лиса́ кур не ворова́ть* [zarekálasʹ lisá kur ne vorovátʹ] (literally, the fox swore not to steal chickens)
*Волк ка́ждый год линя́ет, а всё сер быва́ет* [volk káždyj god linjájet, a vsjó ser byvájet] (literally, each year the wolf molts its fur, but it continues to be grey).


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