cobblers children are worst shod

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Those closest to a problem often suffer the most from it

Literally: children of cobblers are worst shod

Examples

The cobblers children are worst shod, as seen in their own tattered shoes

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “cobblers children are worst shod” mean?

Those closest to a problem often suffer the most from it Literally: children of cobblers are worst shod

Is “cobblers children are worst shod” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.