[General] Proverb- Dog and Stone

[Ajay 123]

I have often heard this proverb in my mother tongue(Tamil), what is the equivalent proverb in English? Please also check for any grammatical errors.

"When I find a stone, dog disappears;when I find a dog, stone disappears."

 

[teechar]

I have often heard this proverb in my mother tongue (Tamil). [STRIKE]what is the[/STRIKE] Is there an equivalent proverb in English? Please also check for any grammatical errors.

"When I find a stone, the dog disappears; when I find a dog, the stone disappears."

Would you care to explain what it means please?

 

[Skrej]

Perhaps "There's never a X around when you need one", where X is the particular thing you currently need.

I think I get that the general idea is that when you have the proper tool to solve a problem, you don't have the problem, but when the problem re-appears you no longer have the right tools on hand to fix it.

This happened to me last week. I ran out of staples, and nobody else seemed to have any as well. Now that I've got a new box of staples, I haven't needed to staple anything lately. :roll:

 

[teechar]

Wow! I never thought that of it that way- the poor dog. :shock:

 

[emsr2d2]

I can't imagine why anyone would need a stone when they see a dog. I might want to find a stick so that I can throw it and play "Fetch" with the dog.

 

[Skrej]

I assumed the stone was to drive away an attacking dog.

 

[Tarheel]

Nobody else had any staples either? Well, I guess you could throw the stapler at the dog. (Is that what the stone is for?)