Hungry belly an full belly nuh walk same pass

proverb HUN-gry BEL-ly an FULL BEL-ly nuh walk SAME PASS ˈhʌŋɡri ˈbɛli an fʊl ˈbɛli nʌ wɑːk seːm paːs

Also spelled a hungry belly and a full belly don't walk the same path, hungry belly an full belly nuh walk di same pass, Hungry belly an full belly nuh walk di same pace, hungry-belly-an-full-belly-nuh-walk, hungry belly and full belly don't walk the same

A hungry belly and a full belly do not walk the same path. People in very different circumstances — the needy and the comfortable — see the world differently and cannot be expected to think or act alike. The satisfied cannot truly understand the desperate.

  • Di rich cyaa understand di poor man struggle; hungry belly an full belly nuh walk same pass.

    The rich can't understand the poor man's struggle; the needy and the comfortable see the world differently.

  • Him nuh know weh mi a go through — hungry belly an full belly nuh walk same pass.

    He doesn't know what I'm going through — the satisfied can't grasp the desperate.

  • Dem nah go agree; hungry belly an full belly nuh walk same pass.

    They won't agree; people in different circumstances don't see eye to eye.

  • Di boss nuh understand di worker struggle — hungry belly an full belly nuh walk di same pace.

    The boss doesn't understand the worker's struggle — the needy and the comfortable see differently.

  • Wi cyaan keep up wid dem; hungry belly an full belly nuh walk di same.

    We can't keep up with them; different circumstances, different pace.

A road image: the hungry and the full, being in wholly different states, travel by different paths — a figure for how circumstance shapes outlook and divides understanding.

Used to explain why the comfortable and the struggling cannot see eye to eye.