打狗还得看主人
dǎ​gǒu​hái​děi​kàn​zhǔ​rén

to consider someone's connections before acting

  • created sense approved 打狗还得看主人/打狗還得看主人 · dǎ​gǒu​hái​děi​kàn​zhǔ​rén · to consider someone's connections before acting — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    打狗还得看主人 / 打狗還得看主人

    dǎ​gǒu​hái​děi​kàn​zhǔ​rén

    to consider someone's connections before acting

    Literally "to beat a dog, one must first look at its master"; used as a metaphor meaning that before you punish or offend someone, you should consider how it might affect or anger their more powerful associates.

    打 (literal) → 打 · dǎ · to hit 狗 (literal) → 狗 · gǒu · dog 还 (literal) → 还/還 · hái · still 得 (literal) → 得 · děi · must 看 (literal) → 看 · kàn · to consider 主人 (literal) → 主人 · zhǔ​rén · owner

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense