天下乌鸦一般黑

[Hong XQ]

I think this is literally like:

"All crows on earth are the same shade of black".

I'm wondering what it really means though:

-一般 :does it mean that they are the same shade of black, or that their being black is something they are doing "together"?

-are the 乌鸦 birds, people outside the law, or just 乌鸦嘴 (crow lips, people who make inauspicious comments)

-is it said from the point of view of a 乌鸦 or some other person (more like a 天鹅 maybe)?

-does it mean like "birds of a feather will recognize one another"?

I suppose I saw this in a movie with two baddies talking to each other, but I'm so unclear as to the meaning I couldn't use it again...

[semantic nuance]

一般 here means '一樣' (the same). Literally it means as you pointed out --"All crows on earth are the same shade of black". It is said when you comment that something happening / someone's behavior is not good, and it seems applicable universally, for example, corruption / bribery, etc.

Hope it helps!

[balthier]

-一般 :does it mean that they are the same shade of black, or that their being black is something they are doing "together"?

it means "equally" here

-are the 乌鸦 birds, people outside the law, or just 乌鸦嘴 (crow lips, people who make inauspicious comments)

just the birds

-is it said from the point of view of a 乌鸦 or some other person (more like a 天鹅 maybe)?

some times when you say this, your defending for someone, then your saying it from the point of view of a Wuya. for example, A said B is xxx(any bad word). then C could say, "A is xxx too, he is no different from B. 天下乌鸦一般黑". so here C is defending for B, point out that no one is perfect. or C could be judging both A and B. then C is saying it from a 天鹅's point of view. so it really depends.

-does it mean like "birds of a feather will recognize one another"?

no. in that case, we have another saying, 物以类聚，人以群分