crab mentality

English

Etymology

Calque of Tagalog isip talangka.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

crab mentality (plural crab mentalities)

1. (idiomatic, Philippines) A way of thinking best described by the phrase "if I can't have it, neither can you." The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs in which one tries to escape over the side, but is relentlessly pulled down by the others in the pot.

Synonyms

• crab bucket syndrome

Translations

If I can't have it neither can you

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 螃蟹心態／螃蟹心态 (pángxiè xīntài), 螃蟹心态 (pángxiè xīntài), 螃蟹精神 (pángxiè jīngshén), 螃蟹心理 (pángxiè xīnlǐ)

• Finnish: keskinäinen kateus
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: da komšiji crkne krava

• Tagalog: isip-alimango, isip talangka, kaisipang talangka