The title is a Japanese proverb which has an equivalent meaning of "While the cats away the mice will play".
I always hurry to do laundry, wash dishes, clean the rooms up while my baby is sleeping. People say "You'd better rest while your baby's sleeping" or " You should have refleshing me-time", but baby's nap time is not very long and sometimes I need to hold him in my arms in order not to wake him up. I wonder what to do when he fells asleep and in the meanwhile, he opens his eyes!!
So recently I just browse or post short English sentences on language learning SNS, holding sleeping baby in my arms.
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Interesting! So, could one say this japanese proverb whenever the boss is away and the employees are chatting/not working?
In Spain is pretty much the same: "Cuando el gato se va, los ratones bailan" Yes ,@Ouassou, we would use it in that context.
@Coral We also have the same in French (Quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent). But dancing is more fun and less productive than doing laundry ^^, so I was wondering if the japanese proverb was used in the exact same context as the european variants. :)
Thank you for the comments, Ouasou and Coral! Yes, if the employees try to do something while their boss is away, it's what we say "do laundry while demons away"! It's interesting that there're proverbs with the different expressions in Spanish and French, too. Though Japanese proverb sounds workaholic! haha