crab mentality

English

Etymology

From the metaphor that 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.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

crab mentality (plural crab mentalities)

1. (idiomatic) A way of thinking best described by the phrase "if I can't have it, neither can you."

Synonyms

• crab bucket syndrome

Translations

if I can't have it neither can you

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 魚蛋論／鱼蛋论 (jyu⁴ daan^6-2 leon⁶)

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

• Dutch: krabbenmentaliteit f
• Finnish: keskinäinen kateus
• Hungarian: dögöljön meg a szomszéd tehene is (literally “[if my cow has died] let the neighbor’s cow die too”)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: da komšiji crkne krava

• Spanish: cangrejismo m, mentalidad de cangrejo f
• Tagalog: isip-alimango, isip talangka, kaisipang talangka

See also

• tall poppy syndrome