- English translation
If a dog bites me, I cannot bite it back; if a low person abuses me, I cannot answer with abuse.
- Literal wording
If a dog bites me, I have no fangs to bite it with; and if a base person insults me, I have no tongue to insult him with.
- Meaning and lesson
The proverb pairs two kinds of attacker: an animal that wounds with its teeth and a contemptible person who wounds with words. In each case the speaker says he lacks the very weapon the attacker uses, so he has no way of striking back in the same fashion.
By naming what he does not possess, the speaker sets himself apart from his assailants. Fangs belong to the dog and a foul tongue belongs to the scoundrel; the speaker has neither, and that absence is the whole point of the comparison.
- When it is used
Fits a moment when someone has been verbally abused by a low or crude person and explains why no retort follows: they simply do not have the coarse means the attacker relies on, just as a person has no fangs for answering a dog.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: If a dog bites me, I cannot bite it back; if a low person abuses me, I cannot answer with abuse.