One idea · 4 languages

“With one's tail between one's legs”in other languages

Defeated and ashamed.

  • English
  • Albanian
  • French
  • Spanish
English
with one's tail between one's legs
Albanian
Iku me bishtin ndër shalë literally He left with his tail between his legs
French
Avoir la queue entre les jambes literally To have one's tail between one's legs
Spanish
con el rabo entre las piernas literally With the tail between the legs
Behind the words

Same idea, different pictures

All four borrow the same picture from a beaten dog, which tucks its tail between its legs: English, Albanian, French, la queue entre les jambes, and Spanish, con el rabo entre las piernas. It's one of the few idioms understood almost everywhere without explanation.

Keep exploring

More sayings in other languages

Browse all idioms