The tongue is the enemy of the neck
Meaning: Careless speech can bring serious consequences upon the speaker.
Origin: Listed in English collections of Turkish proverbs: a careless tongue brings trouble on its owner's own neck. Turkish has several sayings in the same spirit, such as "the tongue is small, but its trouble is great." No early written source for this one has been traced.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: La langue est l'ennemie du cou (literally: The tongue is the enemy of the neck)
- Spanish: La lengua es la enemiga del cuello (literally: The tongue is the enemy of the neck)
- Japanese: 口は禍の元 (Kuchi wa wazawai no moto) (literally: The mouth is the origin of disaster)
More proverbs about Communication
- A gentle answer turns away wrath — Responding calmly to anger defuses conflict; harsh replies only escalate it.
- Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt — Staying quiet is often wiser than speaking and confirming your ignorance.
- Speak little, do much — Let your actions speak louder than your words; promise less and deliver more.
- The louder the thunder, the less the rain — The most dramatic announcements often yield the least substance.
- 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.