old habits die hard

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Proverb

old habits die hard

1. (idiomatic) Established habits are difficult to change.

Translations

established habits are difficult to change

• Arabic:

  Gulf Arabic: بو طبيع ما يوز عن طبعه‎

• Bengali: পুরনো অভ্যাস যেতে চায় না (purôno ôbbhaś jete caẏ na)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 死性不改 (sei² sing³ bat¹ goi²)

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 死性不改 (sǐxìngbùgǎi)

• Czech: zvyk je železná košile
• French: qui a bu boira (fr)
• Georgian: ჩვევა რჯულზე უმტკიცესიაო (čveva rǯulze umṭḳicesiao)

• Greek: πρώτα βγαίνει η ψυχή και μετά το χούι (próta vgaínei i psychí kai metá to choúi)
• Icelandic: það er erfitt að kenna gömlum hundi að sitja (teaching an old dog to sit is a daunting task)
• Italian: il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio
• Kannada: ಹುಟ್ಟು ಗುಣ ಸುಟ್ಟರೂ ಹೋಗೋಲ್ಲ (huṭṭu guṇa suṭṭarū hōgōlla)
• Korean: 세 살 버릇 여든까지 간다 (se sal beoreut yeodeunkkaji ganda)
• Portuguese: velhos hábitos nunca morrem
• Romanian: lupul își schimbă părul, dar năravul ba
• Russian: привы́чка — втора́я нату́ра (privýčka — vtorája natúra) (a habit is a second nature), от ста́рой привы́чки тру́дно изба́виться (ot stároj privýčki trúdno izbávitʹsja)

See also

• you can't teach an old dog new tricks

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 259.