bite the hand that feeds one

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

bite the hand that feeds one (third-person singular simple present bites the hand that feeds one, present participle biting the hand that feeds one, simple past bit the hand that fed one, past participle bitten the hand that fed one)

1. (idiomatic) To cause harm to a benefactor (especially one that one is dependent on, thus with the idea that this behaviour is self-damaging).
   • 2004, Jay Newton-Small, "The Dems' Tax (and Spend) Dilemma," Time, 15 Nov.:

     And the reality is, for all the talk about lobbying reform, Congress has never been known to bite the hand that feeds it.

   • 2020 September 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: We MUST seize the moment”, in Rail, page 3:

     For entirely self-serving reasons, ministers and civil servants never dispelled the public belief that uncaring 'fat cat' privateers or foreign state railways were in control, ramping up fares and creaming off profits which either enriched shareholders or subsidised European rail fares. DfT left train operators to 'take the heat' - which they dutifully did, fearful of speaking up and 'biting the hand that feeds'.

Translations

cause harm to a benefactor

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狗咬呂洞賓／狗咬吕洞宾 (zh) (gǒu yǎo Lǚ Dòngbīn), 狗咬吕洞宾 (zh) (gǒu yǎo Lǚ Dòngbīn), 忘恩負義／忘恩负义 (zh) (wàng'ēnfùyì), 忘恩负义 (zh) (wàng ēn fù yì)

• Finnish: purra ruokkivaa kättä
• French: mordre la main qui nourrit (fr), mordre la main nourricière (fr)
• Galician: morder na man que che dá de comer
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: in die Hand beißen, die einen füttert; (commoner, but broader in meaning) den Ast absägen, auf dem man sitzt (literally “saw off the branch on which one is sitting”)
• Italian: mordere la mano che ti nutre, sputare nel piatto in cui si mangia
• Portuguese: cuspir no prato que comeu
• Russian: куса́ть ру́ку, кото́рая ко́рмит (kusátʹ rúku, kotóraja kórmit), руби́ть сук, на кото́ром сиди́шь (rubítʹ suk, na kotórom sidíšʹ)
• Spanish: morder la mano que te da de comer (es)

See also

• don't shit where you eat (vulgar)