Кто в лес, кто по дрова
With accent marks:
Кто в лес, кто по дрова́.
Translation:
Some to the forest, some for firewood.
Meaning:
Usually this phrase is said with irony and criticism at the same time. It is used in situations when people, seemingly doing the same thing or trying to achieve the same goal, do it without any coordination in their actions so everybody ends up doing his own thing. Therefore, they cannot succeed.
The saying takes an example of a person just walking in the forest and a person gathering firewood: they are both in the forest but are doing different things.
Most often the phrase is used about a discordant singing choir, but can be applied to any action performed by a group of peope.
Other Russian proverbs
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Век живи, век учись, а дураком помрёшь
Live for a century, learn for a century, but die being a fool anyway.
-
Silent means consent.
-
Poor people are inventive.
-
Strike the iron while it's hot.
-
В чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят
Don't bring your set of rules in a foreign monastery
-
В чужом глазу соринку видим, а в своём бревна не замечаем
Оne sees the mote in another's eye and ignores the log in his own.
-
Оne can not see the wood for the trees.
-
Crowded, but not aggrieved.
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