English
Pronunciation
Adjective
all bark and no bite (not comparable)
- (idiomatic) Full of big talk but lacking action, power, or substance; pretentious.
- (idiomatic) Often making cutting remarks, but having a gentle personality underneath.
- (idiomatic) Aggressive but never combative.
- 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.1, at p.28:
- The phrase "all bark, no bite" could have been coined for our mutts; couple of wimps, those two.
Translations
full of big talk
- Catalan: moltes bufes i pocs trons, molta fressa i poca endreça
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 光說不做 / 光说不做 (gwong1 syut3 bat1 zou6)
- Mandarin: 乾打雷，不下雨 / 干打雷，不下雨, 光說不做 / 光说不做 (zh) (guāngshuōbùzuò)
- Danish: han er ikke så farlig som han ser ud
- Finnish: paljon porua, vähän villoja
- French: grande gueule (fr)
- German: große Klappe und nichts dahinter
- Greek: όλο λόγια (ólo lógia)
- Hebrew: כלב נובח אינו נושך (he) (literally “a dog that barks does not bite”)
- Indonesian: tong kosong nyaring bunyinya (id) (empty cans make the loudest noises)
- Italian: tutto fumo e niente arrosto (all smoke and no roast)
- Japanese: 張り子の虎 (はりこのとら, hariko no tora) (papier-mâché tiger)
- Khmer: ឆ្កែព្រុសមិនដែលខាំ (chkaepruhmɨndaelkham)
- Polish: krowa, która dużo ryczy, mało mleka daje (pl) (a cow that moos much, gives little milk)
- Portuguese: cão que ladra não morde (pt), cão que late não morde (a dog that barks does not bite)
- Russian: пуста́я бо́чка гро́мче греми́т (pustája bóčka grómče gremít) (empty barrel rattles louder)
- Slovenian: peš, ki laja, ne griže
- Spanish: mucho ruido y pocas nueces (much noise and few nuts), ladra pero no muerde, irse la fuerza por la boca
- Swedish: stor i orden men liten på jorden
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See also