- English translation
Avoid both alliance and confrontation with someone thought likely to be difficult or malicious.
- Literal wording
Do not keep company with, or stand against, the man whose beard grows before his sideburns.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb advises complete disengagement from a person believed to be sharp-tempered, untrustworthy, or prone to causing trouble. Its counsel is not merely to avoid friendship, but also to refrain from provoking a quarrel or direct contest.
In its traditional framing, the saying bases that judgment on a particular pattern of facial hair, treating it as a sign of bad character. Its broader force is caution about people perceived as hazardous, but the literal imagery relies on a stigmatizing physical stereotype.
- When it is used
Used as a warning to keep distance from someone considered troublesome: neither join them nor challenge them. Because the proverb links character to appearance, it can insult people with the named facial feature and is best avoided when respectful, non-stereotyping language is needed.
- Register
- colloquial proverb
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Avoid both alliance and confrontation with someone thought likely to be difficult or malicious.