when the cat's away the mice will play

English

Alternative forms

• when the cat’s away the mice play
• when the cat's away

Proverb

when the cat’s away the mice will play

1. In the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances.

Antonyms

• absence makes the heart grow fonder

Translations

in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances

• Afrikaans: as die kat weg is, is die muis baas (af) (literally “when the cat's away the mouse is boss.”)
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: please add this translation if you can

  Mandarin: 山中無老虎，猴子稱大王／山中无老虎，猴子称大王, 山中无老虎，猴子称大王 (shānzhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng), 老虎不再山，猴子稱大王／老虎不再山，猴子称大王, 老虎不再山，猴子称大王 (lǎohǔ bù zài shān, hóuzi chēng dàwáng)

• Czech: když kocour není doma, myši mají pré (cs)
• Danish: når katten er ude, spiller musene på bordet
• Dutch: als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel (nl)
• Esperanto: kiam kato promenas, la musoj festenas
• Estonian: kui kassid läinud, on hiirtel pidu
• Finnish: kun kissa on poissa, hiiret hyppivät pöydällä
• French: quand le chat n’est pas là, les souris dansent (fr), le chat parti, les souris dansent (fr)
• German: ist die Katze aus dem Haus, tanzen die Mäuse auf dem Tisch
• Greek: όταν λείπει η γάτα χορεύουν τα ποντίκια (ótan leípei i gáta chorévoun ta pontíkia)
• Hungarian: ha nincs otthon a macska, cincognak az egerek (hu)
• Irish: nuair a bhíonn an cat amuigh, bíonn na lucha ag rince
• Italian: quando il gatto non c'è, i topi ballano
• Japanese: 鬼いぬ間の洗濯 (おにいぬまのせんたく, oni inu ma-no sentaku), 鼬無き間の貂誇り (いたちなきまのてんほこり, itachi naki ma no ten hokori), 鼬無き間の鼠 (いたちなきまのねずみ, itachi naki ma no nezumi)
• Khmer: ឆ្មាមិននៅ កណ្ដុរឡើងរាជ្យ (cmaa mɨn nɨv kɑndol laəŋ riec)
• Kikuyu: hiti ciathiĩ mbwe ciegangara, ngatia ciathiĩ hiti cĩeragara
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• Korean: 고양이가 없으면 쥐가 살판이 난다 (goyang'iga eopseumyeon jwiga salpani nanda)
• Latin: audācem reddit fēlis absentia murem, fēle comprehensā saltant murēs in mensā, quō nōn versantur cattī mures dominantur
• Norwegian: når katten er borte, danser musene på bordet (when the cat’s away, the mice are dancing on the table)
• Persian: در خانه کسی که گربه نباشد موش کدخداست
• Polish: gdy kota nie ma, myszy harcują (pl)
• Portuguese: quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa
• Romanian: când pisica nu-i acasă, joacă șoarecii pe masă
• Russian: без кота́ мыша́м раздо́лье (bez kotá myšám razdólʹje), кот из дома - мыши в пляс (kot iz doma - myši v pljas)
• Scottish Gaelic: tha fios aig an luch nach eil an cat a-staigh
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: где мачке у кући нема ту мишеви коло воде

  Roman: gde mačke u kući nema tu miševi kolo vode

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gaž jo kócor z domu, ga maju myšy swóju wólu

• Spanish: cuando el gato no está, bailan los ratones, cuando el gato no está los ratones están de fiesta
• Swedish: när katten är borta, dansar råttorna på bordet
• Telugu: రౌతు మెత్తనైతే గుర్రం మూడు కాళ్ళ మీద పరిగెత్తుతుంది (rautu mettanaitē gurraṁ mūḍu kāḷḷa mīda parigettutundi)
• Thai: แมวไม่อยู่ หนูระเริง, แมวไม่อยู่ หนูร่าเริง
• Vietnamese: vắng chủ nhà, gà vọc niêu tôm

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 367