Not to invite trouble, to be calm and avoid stirring any possible trouble

Etymology:

  • This ancient phrase originated in 13th century. Later in 14th century, it was used by Geoffrey Chaucer in one of his books which says it is good to avoid waking up a sleeping dog. Imagine, you come near a sleeping dog, you must be thinking the dog might not pounce on you or bite you, so it would be better to leave him sleeping. Similarly, it is better to be quite and not to stir anything that might cause a problem.
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Don’t tell mother that you skipped a lunch today, let the sleeping dogs lay.

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Additional definitions for 'Let Sleeping Dogs Lie':

let sleeping dogs lieTo leave things as they are; especially, to avoid restarting or rekindling an old argument; to leave disagreements in the past.
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Translation

Find a translation for the Let Sleeping Dogs Lie phrase in other languages:

deja que los perros durmiendo mientan

laat slapende honden liggen

la sovende hunder ligge

让睡觉的狗说谎

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    "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/let-sleeping-dogs-lie_44825>.

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