A person's past wrongdoings will return to negatively affect them.

Etymology:

  • 19th century. First attested as lies, like chickens, come home to roost, although the slightly later curses, like chickens, come home to roost was more common. Both are often said to be Spanish or Turkish in origin. The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs notes that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in The Parson's Tale: “And ofte tyme swich cursynge wrongfully retorneth agayn to hym that curseth, as a bryd that retorneth agayn to his owene nest.”
179 Views

Never were truer words than the Spanish proverb, ‘All lies, like chickens, come home to roost.’

Submitted on July 10, 2018

Translation

Find a translation for the the chickens come home to roost phrase in other languages:

τα κοτόπουλα έρχονται σπίτι για να ψηθούν

las gallinas vuelven a casa a posarse

les poulets rentrent à la maison pour se percher

मुर्गियां घर में रोस्ट करने के लिए आती हैं

a csirkék hazaérnek, hogy felszálljanak

ಕೋಳಿಗಳು ಮನೆಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತವೆ

venit domum ad cubitum gallinis

కోళ్లు ఇంటికి వస్తాయి

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to the chickens come home to roost

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this the chickens come home to roost phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this the chickens come home to roost definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "the chickens come home to roost." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/the-chickens-come-home-to-roost_26681>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    She's a real ___________ in the rough, that one.
    A jewel
    B gem
    C ruby
    D diamond