fish and guests smell after three days
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Things that are initially welcome can become unpleasant over time
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Những thứ ban đầu được chào đón có thể trở nên khó chịu theo thời gian
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: fish and guests decay after three days
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 “fish and guests smell after three days” mean?
Things that are initially welcome can become unpleasant over time Literally: fish and guests decay after three days
Is “fish and guests smell after three days” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.