- English translation
The young ones made the trouble, and the elders took the fall.
- Literal wording
The little ones made it, and the big ones fell into it.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying describes a situation where minor or junior people start some mischief or mistake, yet the damage and the accountability land on the senior people around them. Those who did the deed slip away, while those with more standing are caught and made to answer for it.
The contrast can be read as children against grown-ups, or as people of small rank against those of high rank; neither reading is fixed. Either way, responsibility travels upward and those who did not cause the trouble bear its cost.
- When it is used
Use it when a mess created by juniors, children, or underlings ends up costing their elders or superiors, especially when those seniors are held answerable. It fits a wry or rueful tone. It observes a recurring unfairness, not a rule about who deserves blame.
- Register
- Colloquial, rhymed vernacular saying
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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