A scalded cat fears cold water.

Meaning: Past trauma causes excessive caution even toward harmless situations resembling the original threat.

Origin: A cat once burned by hot water shies away from water of any kind. The saying is best known in French, chat échaudé craint l'eau froide, and has close relatives in Spanish and Portuguese. It describes caution grown out of proportion after a bad experience.

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 3 more languages

French: Chat échaudé craint l’eau froide (literally: A scalded cat dreads cold water)
Spanish: Gato escaldado del agua fría huye (literally: A scalded cat flees cold water)
Japanese: 羹に懲りて膾を吹く (Atsumono ni korite namasu wo fuku) (literally: Burned by hot soup, one blows on cold salad)
German: Gebranntes Kind scheut das Feuer (literally: A burnt child shuns the fire)
Italian: Gatto scottato dall'acqua calda ha paura della fredda (literally: A cat scalded by hot water fears cold water)
Portuguese: Gato escaldado de água fria tem medo (literally: A scalded cat is afraid of cold water)
Korean: 자라 보고 놀란 가슴 솥뚜껑 보고 놀란다 (Jara bogo nollan gaseum sotttukkeong bogo nollanda) (literally: A heart frightened by a turtle jumps at a pot lid)
Arabic: الملدوغ يخاف من جرة الحبل (Al-maldūgh yakhāf min jarrat al-ḥabl) (literally: One bitten by a snake fears a dragged rope)

On the map

Once bitten

The same idea in 18 versions, colored by the picture each one uses. Each country shows the version in its main language.

World map: a scalded cat (English, French, Spanish (Spain), Italian, Portuguese); a burnt child (German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish); blowing on it (Russian, Polish, Turkish, Hindi and Urdu, Japanese); bitten or startled (Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Korean).

Download the full map with every saying (PNG)See all world maps

9 more languages on the map

Dutch Een gebrand kind schuwt het vuur“A burnt child shuns the fire”Source: LanGeek (Dutch proverbs); DBNL (Dutch literature library)
Swedish Bränt barn skyr elden“A burnt child shuns the fire”Source: LanGeek (Swedish proverbs); Wiktionary (Nordic forms)
Danish Brændt barn skyer ilden“A burnt child shuns the fire”Source: Sublearn; Wiktionary (Nordic forms)
Russian Обжёгшись на молоке, дуют и на воду (Obzhogshis' na moloke, duyut i na vodu)“Burned by milk, you blow even on water”Source: Dahl's dictionary of the Russian language; Russia Beyond (gw2ru)
Polish Kto się na gorącym sparzył, ten na zimne dmucha“Whoever got burned on something hot blows on the cold”Source: Polski Directory (proverbs); Sublearn
Turkish Sütten ağzı yanan yoğurdu üfleyerek yer“Whoever burned his mouth on milk blows on his yogurt”Source: Eğitim Sistem; Doktorsitesi
Hindi and Urdu दूध का जला छाछ भी फूँक-फूँक कर पीता है (Dūdh kā jalā chhāchh bhī phūṅk-phūṅk kar pītā hai)“Burned by milk, one blows even on buttermilk”Source: Rekhta dictionary; Adda247 (Hindi exam reference)
Persian مارگزیده از ریسمان سیاه و سفید می‌ترسد (Mārgazide az rismān-e siyāh o sefid mitarsad)“One bitten by a snake fears a black-and-white rope”Source: Abadis dictionary; Setare
Chinese 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳 (Yī zhāo bèi shé yǎo, shí nián pà jǐng shéng)“Bitten by a snake once, afraid of a well rope for ten years”Source: China Daily (language page); New Oriental (xdf.cn)