revenge is a dish best served cold

English

Etymology

Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos (1741–1803) is often credited with the phrase's invention, with his 1782 book Les Liaisons Dangereuses being said to contain the line "La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid." One of the first known English-language appearances is Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949): "Revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold." It most famously appeared in its exact form in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: "Ah, Kirk, my old friend. Do you know of the old Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served cold? It is very cold in space."

Proverb

revenge is a dish best served cold

1. An expression that emotional detachment is ideal when taking revenge, as one is righting the wrongs that have been done to the doer.

Translations

emotional detachment is ideal when taking revenge

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (when a nobleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late) 君子報仇，十年不晚 (cmn), 君子报仇，十年不晚 (cmn) (jūnzǐ bàochóu, shí nián bù wǎn)

• Dutch: mijn wraak zal zoet zijn (nl)
• Finnish: kosto on suloinen (fi)
• French: la vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid (fr)
• Italian: la vendetta è un piatto che va servito freddo (it)

See also

• cold blood

References

• http://www.menweb.org/scottrev.htm credits it as a Sicilian proverb