don't shoot the messenger

English

WOTD – 21 May 2010

Pronunciation

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Proverb

don't shoot the messenger

1. The bearer of bad news should not be held accountable for it.

Translations

the bearer of bad news should not be held accountable for the bad news

• Arabic: ناقِلُ الْكُفْرِ لَيْسَ بِكافِرٍ (nāqilu l-kufri laysa bikāfirin, literally “informing about other people’s disbelief does not make one a disbeliever”) (no perfect match, but used similarly)
• Czech: nikdo nemá rád posly špatných zpráv, nestřílejte pianistu, nenadávej na zrcadlo když máš křivou hubu
• Dutch: geef niet de boodschapper de schuld, schiet niet op de boodschapper, schiet niet van de boodschapper
• Finnish: älä ammu viestintuojaa
• French: ne tuez pas le messager, ne tirez pas sur le messager, ce n’est pas en cassant le thermomètre qu’on fait tomber la fièvre (fr)
• Italian: ambasciator non porta pena
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:
• Russian: горькие вести и гонцу не на ра́дость (gorʹkije vesti i goncu ne na rádostʹ), (somewhat) желанные вести — мил гоне́ц (želannyje vesti — mil gonéc), (somewhat) по вестям и гонца встречают (po vestjam i gonca vstrečajut)
• Spanish: no disparen al mensajero, no maten al mensajero
• Swedish: skjut inte budbäraren
• Turkish: elçiye zeval olmaz

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 71