Chidyamatowo akadzipwa neganda remhuru

Munhu gamba, anozviti haabviri, kana okurirwa anokurirwa nemunhu kana chinhu chisingafungidzirwi kuti chingamukunde.

The person who could eat animal hides choked on the skin of a calf meat.

The invincible ones usually succumb to the least expected or least harmful threat. A similar english proverb could be the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

This is a proverb developed almost to mock the invincible person by relating the tale of one Chidyamatowo, which means “the one who can even eat animal hides”. Chidyamatowo must have been quite a feared and boastful person who must have engaged in countless acts of bravery and audacity to end up with such a name. However in the end, Chidyamatowo was killed when he choked on the tender meat of a calf! In this way our elders were commenting on the irony in life that big people or institutions sometimes fall to the most insignificant or unsuspecting thing.

This proverb is used as a comment or in mockery when someone or something significant falls to something highly unexpected and insignificant. It can also be used to counsel someone who has become too big headed that their demise can come from the most unsuspected quarters hence they need to have an ounce of humility.