cobbler's children [always] go unshod

04:26 Apr 23, 2013 

:)

08:26 Apr 13, 2013 

used the expression "the cobbler's children are (always) WORST shod", not unshod; even in the 1920's they generally had SOMETHING on their feet!

07:11 Apr 13, 2013 

"The cobbler's children [always] go unshod." Just like that.

04:44 Apr 13, 2013 

I believe the original proverb is actually, "The cobbler's children go unshod," so the apostrophe is correct, but the asker left out the word "the" at the beginning.

Most educated native speakers would understand this proverb, but, "The shoemaker's children always go barefoot" is a good alternative if you are writing for an audience of people with mixed cultural and educational backgrounds.

A variation states something like, "The carpenter's home has no door," or, "The carpenter's home is the one with no door."

20:18 Apr 12, 2013 

"Cobblers" is plural here, so it should be cobblers' children, not cobbler's children. In other words, it means "the children of cobblers", not "the children of cobbler".

There is a version of this which runs "cobblers' children have no shoes", which might be preferable in terms of the concern you express in the question: "unshod" is a bit learned. The word "cobbler" is pretty normal, I think, and I doubt it will be unfamiliar to many people.