The louder the thunder, the less the rain
Meaning: The most dramatic announcements often yield the least substance.
Origin: Credited to Urdu and Italian tradition, but the image is common elsewhere too: Chinese has léi shēng dà, yǔ diǎn xiǎo — loud thunder, small raindrops — and English has "big thunder, little rain." All mean that big talk usually brings little action.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Plus le tonnerre gronde, moins il pleut (literally: The louder the thunder, the less the rain)
- Spanish: Mucho trueno, poco aguacero (literally: Much thunder, little downpour)
- Japanese: 鳴り響く雷は雨が少ない (Naribiku kaminari wa ame ga sukunai) (literally: A booming thunder has little rain)
- German: Viel Geschrei und wenig Wolle (literally: Much bleating and little wool)
More proverbs about Communication
- Do what I say, not what I do — Hypocrisy acknowledged: the speaker recognizes their own failures but knows the correct p…
- It's not what you say but how you say it — Tone and delivery shape message impact more powerfully than words alone.
- Live by the sword, die by the sword — Violence begets violence; those who choose aggressive means should expect equally brutal…
- No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public — Mass audiences reward simplicity over substance, making mediocrity perpetually profitable.
- As you make your bed so you must lie on it. — Your choices about how you arrange your life will directly determine the comfort or disco…
- He who lies long in bed his estate feels it. — Laziness depletes wealth as surely as an idle body consumes resources without producing i…
From our compliments & insults
- Χρυσό μου (Chrysó mou) — My darling — a tender term of endearment.
- Sei un fenomeno — You're amazing — exceptionally good at what you do.
- Eres la leche — You're the best — absolutely fantastic.