don't shoot the messenger

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English

WOTD – 21 May 2010

English Wikipedia has an article on:

shooting the messenger

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)

Proverb

don't shoot the messenger

(sarcastic or humorous) The bearer of bad news should not be held accountable for it.

Related terms

shoot the messenger

Translations

the bearer of bad news should not be held accountable for the bad news

Czech: nikdo nemá rád posly špatných zpráv, nestřílejte pianistu, nenadávej na zrcadlo když máš křivou hubu
Dutch: geef niet de boodschapper de schuld, schiet niet op de boodschapper, schiet niet van de boodschapper
Finnish: älä ammu viestintuojaa
French: ne tuez pas le messager, ne tirez pas sur le messager, ce n’est pas en cassant le thermomètre qu’on fait tomber la fièvre (fr)
Italian: ambasciator non porta pena
Kumyk: элчиге оьлюм ёкъ (elçige ölüm yoq)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: qasid êrî û bêrî ye
Polish: nie strzelaj do posłańca
Russian: горькие вести и гонцу не на ра́дость (gorʹkije vesti i goncu ne na rádostʹ), (somewhat) желанные вести — мил гоне́ц (želannyje vesti — mil gonéc), (somewhat) по вестям и гонца встречают (po vestjam i gonca vstrečajut)
Spanish: no disparen al mensajero, no maten al mensajero
Swedish: skjut inte budbäraren
Turkish: elçiye zeval olmaz

See also

don't hate the player, hate the game

References

Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 71

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