barking dogs seldom bite

English

Alternative forms

• a barking dog never bites, a barking dog seldom bites, barking dogs never bite

Proverb

barking dogs seldom bite

1. People who make threats rarely carry them out.

Related terms

• one's bark is worse than one's bite
• all bark and no bite

Translations

people who make threats rarely carry them out

• Albanian: qeni që leh, s'të ha
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: zakur zaunkaria nekez hozkaria
• Catalan: gos que lladra, no mossega
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 刀子嘴豆腐心 (zh) (dāozi zuǐ dòufu xīn), 善吠的狗很少咬人 (shàn fèi-de gǒu hěn shǎo yǎo rén)

• Czech: pes, který štěká, nekouše (cs)
• Dutch: blaffende honden bijten niet
• Esperanto: bojanta hundo ne mordas, ne ĉio batas, kio tondras, kiu multe parolas, ne multe faras
• Finnish: haukkuva koira ei pure
• French: chien qui aboie ne mord pas (fr)
• German: Hunde, die bellen, beißen nicht (de)
• Greek: σκύλος που γαβγίζει δεν δαγκώνει (skýlos pou gavgízei den dagkónei), σκυλί που γαβγίζει δεν δαγκώνει (skylí pou gavgízei den dagkónei)
• Hungarian: amelyik kutya ugat, az nem harap (hu)
• Ingrian: haukkuva koira ei konskaa pure
• Italian: can che abbaia non morde, (rare) cane che abbaia non morde
• Japanese: 弱い犬ほどよく吠る (よわいいぬほどよくほえる, yowai inu hodo yoku hoeru), 能無し犬の高吠え (のうなしいぬのたかぼえ, nōnashi inu no takaboe)
• Korean: 짖는 개는 물지 않는다 (ko) (jinneun gaeneun mulji anneunda)
• Latin: canis sine dentibus vehementius lātrat
• Macedonian: куче што лае, не каса (kuče što lae, ne kasa)
• Malay:

  Jawi: انجيڠ مڽالق تق مڠݢيݢيت, هاريماو برتمڤيق تق مماکن اورڠ, هاريماو مندرم تق منڠکڤ, هاريماو مڠاءوم جارڠ منڠکڤ

  Rumi: anjing menyalak tak menggigit, harimau bertempik tak memakan orang, harimau menderam tak menangkap, harimau mengaum jarang menangkap

• Malayalam: കുരയ്ക്കുന്ന പട്ടി കടിക്കില്ല (kuraykkunna paṭṭi kaṭikkilla)
• Polish: pies, co bardzo szczeka, nie bardzo kąsa, krowa, która dużo ryczy, mało mleka daje (pl)
• Portuguese: cão que ladra não morde (pt), cão que late não morde (literally “A dog that barks does not bite”)
• Romanian: câinele care latră nu mușcă
• Russian: соба́ка, кото́рая ла́ет — не куса́ет (sobáka, kotóraja lájet — ne kusájet), ла́ющая соба́ка не куса́ет (lájuščaja sobáka ne kusájet)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пас који ла̏је не гризе

  Roman: pas koji laje ne grize

• Slovene: pes, ki laja, ne grize
• Spanish: perro ladrador, poco mordedor, perro que ladra no muerde
• Sranan Tongo: a no babariman e broko pranasi
• Swedish: skällande hund bits inte
• Tagalog: ang asong kahol nang kahol ay hindi nangangagat (literally), ang asong tahol nang tahol ay hindi nangangagat
• Tamil: குரைக்கும் நாய் கடிக்காது (kuraikkum nāy kaṭikkātu)
• Telugu: అరిచే కుక్క కరవదు (te) (aricē kukka karavadu), మొరిగే కుక్క కరవదు (te) (morigē kukka karavadu)
• Thai: หมาเห่าไม่กัด (th) (mǎa hào mâi gàt)
• Turkish: havlayan köpek ısırmaz
• Vietnamese: chó sủa là chó không cắn
• Walloon: li tchén ki baweye ni hagne nén (wa), tchén ki hawe ni hagne nén (wa), les tchéns ki hawèt n' hagnèt nén (wa)

See also

• empty vessels make the most sound

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) “barking dogs never bite”, in Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, Random House, →ISBN, page 20