speak softly and carry a big stick
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: talk softly and carry a big stick · walk softly and carry a big stick
Be gentle but have the power to act strongly if necessary
Nhẹ nhàng nhưng có sức mạnh để hành động mạnh nếu cần
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
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 “speak softly and carry a big stick” mean?
Be gentle but have the power to act strongly if necessary Literally: speak in a quiet voice while holding a large stick
Is “speak softly and carry a big stick” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.