brag is a good dog, but holdfast is better
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It's better to be reliable than to just talk about it
Literally: a proverbial comparison of a bragging dog and a holding-fast dog
Examples
My friend can brag about his plans, but brag is a good dog, but holdfast is better
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “brag is a good dog, but holdfast is better” mean?
It's better to be reliable than to just talk about it Literally: a proverbial comparison of a bragging dog and a holding-fast dog
Is “brag is a good dog, but holdfast is better” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.