English · Proverb Candidate

you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Kindness is more effective than harshness in achieving goals

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tình yêu thương hiệu quả hơn sự thô bạo trong việc đạt được mục tiêu

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: attracting flies with sweet or sour substances

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 “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” mean?

Kindness is more effective than harshness in achieving goals Literally: attracting flies with sweet or sour substances

Is “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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