Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«El que juega con fuego, se quema.»
Word for word
He who plays with fire, burns himself.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: If you play with fire, you'll get burned.
Warns someone that flirting with danger or risky behavior will eventually have consequences. Used both literally and metaphorically.
Hear it in a sentence
El que juega con fuego, se quema, y tú estás coqueteando con problemas.
If you play with fire, you'll get burned, and you're flirting with trouble.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.