proverb · Words worth keeping
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying pairs lying down with dogs with getting up with fleas. As an analogy, association is imagined to bring unwanted consequences.
What the words are saying
The shared setting makes proximity the link between the two events. A responsible application can assess a particular arrangement rather than labelling people contaminated or judging guilt by association. The phrase does not verify an animal-health claim or prove every connection has a harmful effect.
Everyday example
Someone reviews the actual consequences of an arrangement instead of judging its participants by association alone.
When to use it
Use it to examine connections and consequences without stigmatising people.
What it does not mean
Association alone does not establish wrongdoing or an inevitable harmful result.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 265; PDF page 41
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.