English proverb for a person or a thing with limited capabilities

Question

ఎలుక పరుగు ఎందాక? కలుగు వరకే

This is a proverb in Telugu which translates to 'A rat runs only till its burrow.'

It indicates the abilities or the limited capabilities of a person. i.e., a rat runs till it finds its burrow. It cannot do anything beyond that.

What is the equivalent English proverb of the same?

I don't think your Telugu idiom implies the person can't learn or is stupid - is it just saying they are junior and inexperienced? — k1eran, Sep 29, 2017 at 12:56
@k1eran No. The question doesn't mention anything about a person being stupid or junior or inexperienced. The Telugu proverb implies that there are persons who have limited capabilities. — user75512, Sep 29, 2017 at 15:42
A rat runs only till its burrow can’t work in English. … only to its burrow might, or … until it finds its burrow. Rat seems kin to the proverbial ostrich, sticking its head in the sand. In theory Ostrich reasons what it can’t see, can’t hurt it, so buries its head so it can’t see the enemy, which therefore can’t see nor hurt it. Like Ostrich, Rat presumably runs because he senses danger. Reaching his burrow, he hides. If that’s the end, what’s the point? If hiding makes no difference and the danger still threatens, the proverbs would seem to be loosely analogous. — Robbie Goodwin, Sep 30, 2017 at 19:08

SurpriseDog · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-11 17:31:53Z

1

A "one trick pony"

which refers to someone that's only skilled in one area.

There's also the proverb: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

which refers to the difficultly in teaching someone a new skill set.

answered Jun 11, 2019 at 17:31

SurpriseDog

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