- English translation
Hold out your neck for a smack, and a smack is what you'll get.
- Literal wording
Whoever presents the back of his neck for a slap will be slapped.
- Meaning and lesson
The image is a simple one: a person turns the nape toward someone who might strike it, and the blow duly lands there. The slap on the back of the neck stands in for being humiliated or treated with indignity.
Taken figuratively, the saying ties an outcome to an exposure. When someone willingly puts himself in a position open to humiliation, humiliation is what follows, as plainly as a slap follows an offered neck.
- When it is used
Applicable when a person knowingly enters a situation that leaves them open to humiliation and the humiliation then occurs, or as a warning before someone takes such a step. It links the exposure directly to the result.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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