empty vessels make the most sound

English

Alternative forms

• empty vessels make the most noise, empty barrels make the most noise, empty cans make the most noise

Proverb

empty vessels make the most sound

1. Talkative, opinionated people are often ignorant.

Usage notes

• "The most" may be replaced by "the loudest", "the greatest", etc.

Translations

proverb

• Afrikaans: leë kanne maak die grootste geraas
• Aramaic:

  Hebrew: אִסְתְּרָא בְּלָגֵינָא קִישׁ קִישׁ קָרְיָא (istra balagina qish qish qarya)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 滿瓶水不響，半瓶水晃蕩／满瓶水不响，半瓶水晃荡 (mǎn píng shuǐ bù xiǎng, bàn píng shuǐ huàng dàng)

• Czech: prázdný sud nejvíce duní
• Danish: tomme tønder buldrer mest
• Dutch: holle vaten klinken het hardst
• Finnish: tyhjät tynnyrit kolisevat eniten
• French: c’est pas parce qu’on n’a rien à dire qu’il faut fermer sa gueule, la culture c’est comme la confiture : moins on en a plus on l’étale
• German: leere Töpfe klappern am meisten, ein leerer Topf am meisten klappert, ein leerer Kopf am meisten plappert
• Hindi: अधजल गगरी छलकत जाए (adhjal gagrī chalkat jāe)
• Indonesian: tong kosong nyaring bunyinya (id)
• Italian: zucca vuota fa rumore
• Japanese: 空樽は音が高い (akidaru wa oto ga takai)
• Korean: 빈 수레가 요란하다 (ko) (bin sure-ga yoran-hada)
• Malay:

  Jawi: توڠ کوسوڠ ڽاريڠ بوڽيڽ, اءير برياق تندا تق دالم, برکوچق تندا تق ڤنوه

  Rumi: tong kosong nyaring bunyinya, air beriak tanda tak dalam, berkocak tanda tak penuh

• Russian: пуста́я бо́чка гро́мче греми́т (pustája bóčka grómče gremít)
• Swedish: tomma tunnor skramlar mest, tomma tunnor bullrar mest
• Tamil: நிறை குடம் நீர் தளும்பாது குறை குடம் கூத்தாடும் (niṟai kuṭam nīr taḷumpātu kuṟai kuṭam kūttāṭum)
• Vietnamese: thùng rỗng kêu to

See also

• the squeaky wheel gets the grease
• the nail that sticks out gets hammered down
• barking dogs seldom bite