The listener makes the backbiter.
The listener makes the backbiter.
Meaning in plain English
An eager audience can encourage someone to keep speaking maliciously about others. Consider how listening, approval or repetition helps the conversation continue.
Example
A colleague stops passing along an insulting rumour and asks whether there is an actual work concern that should be raised appropriately.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The listener is given an active part in producing the backbiter. The image draws attention to the reward offered by an interested audience: malicious talk can continue because it receives attention or approval. Someone listening can ask for evidence, redirect the exchange or decline to spread it. That does not make the listener solely responsible for the speaker’s behaviour. Distinguish entertainment at another person’s expense from a necessary discussion of a problem, especially when someone is seeking help or reporting harm.
When to use it
Use it to examine the audience’s part in encouraging malicious talk.
Keep in mind
Listening to a report of harm is not backbiting; do not silence a person who needs support.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857)
Printed page 32; French section, paragraph 628; source wording: L’écoutant fait le médisant.
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗