In English
“as the cow grows so its nostrils widen”
Meaning
'So cow a grow, so him nose hole a open' — as the cow grows, so its nostrils widen. As a person grows and rises in life, their needs, responsibilities, and appetites grow with them: bigger circumstances bring bigger demands. The proverb observes, with a countryman's shrewd eye, that success and advancement are not pure gain, since the more one has and becomes, the more one requires to sustain it, and the wider one's obligations stretch open.
Examples
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Him get di big job an now di bills big too; so cow a grow, so him nose hole a open.
He got the big job and now the bills are big too; as you rise, your demands grow.
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Di more yuh have, di more yuh spend; so cow a grow, so him nose hole a open.
The more you have, the more you spend; growth brings greater needs.
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Bigger family, bigger responsibility; so cow a grow, so him nose hole a open.
Bigger family, bigger responsibility; as things grow so do the demands.
Origin
A cattle image: a calf's nostrils widen as it matures into a full-grown cow — read as needs and responsibilities expanding in step with a person's growth and station.
How it’s used
Used to observe that rising in life brings correspondingly greater demands and expenses.