Barking dogs seldom bite
Meaning: People who make threats rarely carry them out.
Origin: The Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus wrote that a timid dog barks more fiercely than it bites — canis timidus vehementius latrat quam mordet. The English proverb is recorded from the 16th century, and the same idea survives in "his bark is worse than his bite."
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Chien qui aboie ne mord pas (literally: A dog that barks doesn't bite)
- Spanish: Perro que ladra no muerde (literally: A dog that barks doesn't bite)
- Japanese: 吠える犬は噛まない (Hoeru inu wa kamanai) (literally: A barking dog doesn't bite)
- German: Hunde, die bellen, beißen nicht (literally: Dogs that bark do not bite)
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