before setting out on a mission of vengeance, dig two graves
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Seeking revenge will likely lead to one's own downfall
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tìm kiếm báo thù có thể dẫn đến thất bại của bản thân
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: digging two physical graves
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
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.
Common questions
What does “before setting out on a mission of vengeance, dig two graves” mean?
Seeking revenge will likely lead to one's own downfall Literally: digging two physical graves
Is “before setting out on a mission of vengeance, dig two graves” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.