a guilty conscience needs no accuser
Meaning: Guilty people give themselves away.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Nobody mentioned the missing cake, but he kept apologizing; a guilty conscience needs no accuser.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: An old proverb; similar lines are found in Latin and in 16th-century English collections.
Equivalents in other languages
- Arabic: اللي على راسه بطحة بيحسس عليها (illi ʿala rasu baṭḥa byiḥassis ʿalayha) — literally: He who has a bump on his head keeps touching it
More idioms — Daily Life
- big deal — Said sarcastically to mean something is not important at all.
- play dumb — To pretend not to know or understand something.
- make short work of something — To deal with or finish something quickly.
- you've made your bed, now lie in it — You must accept the consequences of your own choices.
- an uphill battle — A long, difficult struggle.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
More English idioms
- play into someone's hands — To act in a way that unintentionally helps an opponent.
- make a hash of something — To do something very badly.
- all hell breaks loose — Chaos and disorder suddenly erupt.
- be put out to pasture — To be retired or set aside as no longer useful.
- The last straw that broke the camel's back — The final small burden that causes a total collapse.
- To have a frog in your throat — To have difficulty speaking due to hoarseness.
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