- English translation
As with the ruler's lashes, every blow that misses you beats the one that lands.
- Literal wording
Like the governor's whips: the ones that pass you by are better than the ones that catch you.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying pictures a flogging ordered by someone in authority. Some lashes strike the victim and some fall wide. Every stroke that misses is plainly preferable to one that lands, so any harm that passes a person by is better than harm that actually reaches them.
The preference is narrow and relative. The whip remains something to dread, and escaping one blow does not make the punishment pleasant or welcome. The proverb ranks degrees of misfortune: among unwelcome things, being spared is better only in the sense that it hurts less.
- When it is used
Use when someone has been spared some or all of a misfortune, penalty, or burden. It offers wry consolation: the situation is still unwelcome, and a near miss is no blessing in itself, but being missed beats being struck.
- Register
- colloquial
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: As with the ruler's lashes, every blow that misses you beats the one that lands.