{"id":24294,"date":"2025-11-13T12:42:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24294"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:42:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:42:33","slug":"better-safe-than-sorry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24294","title":{"rendered":"Better Safe than Sorry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the past week or so I&#8217;ve had a number of vaccinations to prepare for my trip to China, and have more to come. As they say, <strong>better safe than sorry<\/strong>, but what do they say in other languages?<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bztraining\/25604865275\/in\/photolist-F1BCop-2omxVLH-2nmJMW9-2q7txXL-2kfVAvj-2kHNp6C-cAe1Jw-2afWgin-Jtttuu-2k7BWU5-2npD2yd-aB1ZEs-2kva4gz-2om9MZW-2mXdtTS-2mYhQAq-2o2zSxe-f3zHmQ-QfRcHa-2nqnpDJ-2nYT3Zy-2nKXggb-2oCPvR9-dbAQwn-2gcVmjC-2oh9XXn-2eEHipn-28vqfgs-2mjXXD3-2kQ8ZvR-2nFBsba-TzF6V9-26n4uFf-2j31HXF-2o3SQGy-2oh9y54-2nra8Lb-7VE2H6-2o5TtLt-FjQjww-92wEi2-7nnpL5-2mJvLZs-2jp6zv3-2nB21bP-2ptkvHW-2ordrLL-2nQpX4U-dc8JgX-85Vmaz\" title=\"The Big Spill\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/1514\/25604865275_bd146aff4c_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"424\" alt=\"The Big Spill\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The phrase <strong>better safe than sorry<\/strong> means it is preferable to be cautious in one&#8217;s choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.<\/p>\n<p>Phrases with similar meanings in English include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>err on the side of caution<\/li>\n<li>measure twice, cut once<\/li>\n<li>play it safe<\/li>\n<li>prevention is better than cure<\/li>\n<li>an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Equivalent phrases in other languages include: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Azerbaijani<\/strong> &#8211; htiyat igidin yara\u015f\u0131\u011f\u0131d\u0131r<br \/>\n(<em>&#8220;prudence is the adornment of a brave man&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bulgarian<\/strong> &#8211; \u043a\u043e\u0439\u0442\u043e \u0441\u0430\u043c \u0441\u0435 \u043f\u0430\u0437\u0438 \u0438 \u0411\u043e\u0433 \u0433\u043e \u043f\u0430\u0437\u0438 (koi\u0306to sam se pazi i Bog go pazi) &#8211; (<em>&#8220;He who protects himself and God protects him&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chinese (Mandarin)<\/strong> &#8211; \u5c0f\u5fc3\u9a76\u5f97\u4e07\u5e74\u8239 [\u5c0f\u5fc3\u99db\u5f97\u842c\u5e74\u8239]<br \/>\n(xi\u01ceox\u012bn sh\u01d0 d\u00e9 w\u00e0nni\u00e1n chu\u00e1n) &#8211; (<em>&#8220;If you are careful, you can steer your ship safely for a myriad of years&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>French<\/strong> &#8211; mieux vaut pr\u00e9venir que gu\u00e9rir<br \/>\n(<em>&#8220;prevention is better than cure&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>German<\/strong> &#8211; Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht<br \/>\n(<em>&#8220;caution is better than clemency&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Greek<\/strong> &#8211; \u03ba\u03ac\u03bb\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf \u03b3\u03b1\u03ca\u03b4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03cc\u03b4\u03b5\u03bd\u03b5 \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03ac \u03b3\u03b1\u03ca\u03b4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u03b3\u03cd\u03c1\u03b5\u03c5\u03b5 (k\u00e1llio ga\u00efdour\u00f3dene par\u00e1 ga\u00efdourog\u00fdreve) &#8211; (<em>&#8220;Better to tie a donkey than to ride a donkey.&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Irish<\/strong> &#8211; is fearr glas n\u00e1 amhras<br \/>\n(<em>&#8220;better a lock than a doubt&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Japanese<\/strong> &#8211; \u8ee2\u3070\u306c\u5148\u306e\u6756 (korobanu saki no tsue) &#8211; (<em>&#8220;a walking stick before stumbling&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Korean<\/strong> &#8211; \ub3cc\ub2e4\ub9ac\ub3c4 \ub450\ub4e4\uaca8 \ubcf4\uace0 \uac74\ub108\ub77c (doldalido dudeulgyeo bogo geonneola) &#8211; (<em>&#8220;even if you cross a stone bridge, test it first.&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Polish<\/strong> &#8211; \u017ceby k\u00f3zka nie skaka\u0142a, toby n\u00f3\u017cki nie z\u0142ama\u0142a<br \/>\n(<em>&#8220;if the goat had not been jumping, it would not have broken its leg&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Welsh<\/strong> &#8211; gwell diogel nac edifar<br \/>\n(<em>&#8220;better safe than sorry&#8221;<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/better_safe_than_sorry\">https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/better_safe_than_sorry<\/a><\/p>\n<p>How about in other languages?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ling-app.com\/offer-yearly-subscription\/?affiliateId=omniglot\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_ling-app.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"79\" alt=\"Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the past week or so I&#8217;ve had a number of vaccinations to prepare for my trip to China, and have more to come. As they say, better safe than sorry, but what do they say in other languages? The phrase better safe than sorry means it is preferable to be cautious in one&#8217;s choices [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[510,93,95,104,116,118,125,129,131,10,39,77],"tags":[521,164,355,138,281,522,163],"class_list":["post-24294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-azerbaijani-azrbaycan-dili","category-bulgarian","category-chinese","category-english","category-german","category-greek","category-idioms","category-japanese","category-korean","category-language","category-polish","category-welsh","tag-better-safe-than-sorry","tag-english","tag-idioms","tag-language","tag-omniglot","tag-translation","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24294"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24302,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24294\/revisions\/24302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}