barking dogs seldom bite

English

Alternative forms

• barking dogs never bite

Proverb

barking dogs seldom bite

1. People who make big threats never usually carry them out.

Related terms

• one's bark is worse than one's bite

Translations

people who make big threats never usually carry them out

Chinese: Mandarin: 刀子嘴豆腐心 (cmn) (dāozi zuǐ dòufu xīn), 善吠的狗很少咬人 (cmn) (shàn fèi-de gǒu hěn shǎo yǎo rén) Croatian: pas koji laje ne grize (hr) Czech: pes, který štěká, nekouše (cs) Dutch: Blaffende honden bijten niet (nl) Finnish: haukkuva koira ei pure (fi) French: chien qui aboie ne mord pas (fr) German: Hunde, die bellen, beißen nicht (de) Hungarian: amelyik kutya ugat, az nem harap (hu)

Italian: can che abbaia non morde (it) Japanese: 弱い犬ほどよく吠る (ja) (よわいいぬほどよくほえる, yowai inu hodo yoku hoeru) Malayalam: kurakkum patti kadikkilla (ml) Polish: pies, co bardzo szczeka, nie bardzo kąsa (pl), krowa, która dużo ryczy, mało mleka daje (pl) Portuguese: cão que ladra não morde (pt) Russian: собака, которая лает — не кусает (ru) (sobáka, kotóraja lájet — ne kusájet), лающая собака не кусает (ru) (lájuščaja sobáka ne kusájet), Spanish: perro ladrador, poco mordedor, perro que ladra no muerde Turkish: havlayan köpek ısırmaz (tr)

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 20. (The main title is "Barking dogs never bite" but the article lists several variations.)