Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«No hables de la soga en casa del ahorcado.»
¿Cómo se dice «No hables de la soga en casa del ahorcado» en inglés? Don't mention rope in the hanged man's house.
Word for word
Don't speak of the rope in the hanged man's house.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Don't mention rope in the hanged man's house.
Used to warn someone against bringing up a sensitive topic in front of people affected by it. It's about being tactful and avoiding painful subjects in inappropriate company.
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Also said as
- No mentes la soga en casa del ahorcado.
Hear it in a sentence
No hables de la soga en casa del ahorcado; no menciones el divorcio delante de ella.
Don't mention rope in the hanged man's house; don't bring up divorce in front of her.
More Spanish sayings
- Despacito y con buena letra. — Slowly and carefully.
- Donde hay amor, hay dolor. — Where there is love, there is pain.
- Cada loco con su tema. — To each their own.
- El hábito no hace al monje. — Clothes don’t make the man.
- A la ocasión la pintan calva. — Seize the moment when it comes.
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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 level.