barking dogs seldom bite
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: barking dogs never bite · a barking dog never bites · a barking dog seldom bites
People who threaten or complain loudly often don't take action.
Những người thường xuyên đe dọa hoặc phàn nàn lớn thường không hành động
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
Tatoeba sentence #29918 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “barking dogs seldom bite” mean?
People who threaten or complain loudly often don't take action. Literally: aggressive dogs that bark don't usually bite
Is “barking dogs seldom bite” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“chó sủa là chó không cắn” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.