English · Proverb Candidate

he's an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Everyone benefits from their own work or efforts

Literally: a cook who can't taste his own food

Examples

He's an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers, so he's making a fortune from his restaurant

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.

Topics: Hands

Common questions

What does “he's an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers” mean?

Everyone benefits from their own work or efforts Literally: a cook who can't taste his own food

Is “he's an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers” formal or informal?

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

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