proverb · Words worth keeping
It is all one whether you are bit by a dog or a bitch.
It is all one whether you are bit by a dog or a bitch.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
When the injury is the same, a superficial difference between its sources may not lessen what happened. Look at the effect and responsibility rather than using a label to excuse comparable harm.
What the words are saying
The animal comparison changes which dog bites but leaves the experience of being bitten. The useful question is whether the distinction being offered makes a relevant difference to the event. People sometimes excuse the same disruptive behaviour when it comes from a favoured group or a familiar person. Examining the action consistently can avoid that double standard. The metaphor does not mean that motives, circumstances or severity never matter; it only challenges a difference that is being treated as decisive without showing why it changes the harm.
Everyday example
Two teammates repeatedly interrupt a colleague. The team addresses both patterns instead of dismissing one as enthusiasm while describing the other as disrespect solely because it prefers one speaker.
When to use it
Use it when labels distract from comparable actions and consequences.
What it does not mean
Bitch denotes a female dog in the source. It should not be redirected as an insult toward a person; different circumstances can still require different responses.
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 (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 7; French section, paragraph 136; source wording: Autant vaut être mordu d’un chien que d’une chienne.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.