barking dogs seldom bite
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Huffing, bounc- ing, hectoring fellows rarely possess cool courage. Similar proverbs are found in Latin, French, Italian, and German.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Examples
Barking dogs seldom bite.Chó sủa ít khi cắn.
Tatoeba sentence #29918 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “barking dogs seldom bite” mean?
Huffing, bounc- ing, hectoring fellows rarely possess cool courage. Similar proverbs are found in Latin, French, Italian, and German.
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.