6 English Idioms from Aesop’s Fables

A fable is a short fictional story featuring anthropomorphized animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that illustrates or leads to a particular moral lesson. Some of the most well-known and beloved fables come from  Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. These stories come from oral tradition and since Aesop’s time, many stories have been ascribed to him that may have come from other sources. Regardless, many proverbs, lessons, and ‘golden rules’ come to English by way of these stories. As well, English also derived a number of its idioms from them. Here are six useful and interesting English idioms that come from Aesop’s fables. Admittedly, though, Aesop was sometimes borrowing inspiration from already existing expressions or proverbs.

Add Insult to Injury

Meaning: To add insult to injury is to make a bad situation become worse by saying or doing something; to upset someone once, with some remark or action, and then to do something else which compounds the original insult; to add to the injury of something that occurs by saying or doing something.

Example: “I sprained my ankle when I stepped off the curb, and then, to add insult to injury, my cousin Stevie laughed at me.”

Aesop’s Fable Source: The Bald Man and the Fly

In the story, a bald man is bitten on the head by a fly. In trying to swat the fly, he misses and ends up bonking himself on the head very hard. The fly laughs and says, “You wanted to avenge the prick of a tiny little insect with death. What will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?”

The man replied that he would feel just fine about himself because he knew that it was not his intention to harm. But, “you shameful animal of a scorned race, who delighted to drink human blood, I would choose to be rid of you even with a greater inconvenience to myself.”

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Meaning: just because something is externally attractive it is not good or desirable. In other words, although something may appear to have high value, it may be worthless.

Example: “I really wanted a sports car and this one looked so awesome. I found out the hard way that all that glitters is not gold. It’s been in the shop constantly since I bought it.”

Aesop’s Fable Source:

This idiom derives from an old proverb, appearing in various writings, including Shakespeare, since at least the 1850s, including Aesop’s Fables, where it appeared in similar wording as early as 1175.

The Aesop’s Fable The Hen and the Golden Eggs illustrates the concept. In this story,  a farmer has a hen that lays golden eggs. The farmer thinks that, since the hen lays golden eggs, the hen herself must be filled with gold. Therefore, he slaughters it, only to find that inside, it is just an ordinary hen.

Cry Wolf

Meaning: To cry wolf means to raise a false alarm; to warn of a danger that doesn’t really exist; to cry for help when you do not actually need help; to complain about something needlessly.

Example: “Every time she gets into a shouting match with the neighbors she calls the police. You’d think they’d be tired of her crying wolf all the time.”

Aesop’s Fable Source: This idiom comes from the tale known as The Boy Who Cried Wolf, an Aesop’s Fable which appeared in a translation by Roger L’Estrange in 1692. In the tale, a young shepherd was watching his sheep and growing fearful, or perhaps simply to amuse himself, cried “Wolf!” causing frightened villagers to come to his aid. The boy repeated his false cry several times causing the people to respond to his false alarm each time until, when a real wolf finally appeared, the villagers ignored his cries, thinking he was simply “crying wolf” again. Since the mid-1800’s this expression has been applied to any false alarm, especially a repeated one.

Dog in the Manger

Meaning: A dog in the manger is a petty person who tries to keep others from having, using, or enjoying something even though they do not actually want or need it themselves.

Example: “My uncle Paul is a dog in the manger about his swimming pool. He never uses it but won’t let any of the family use it either.”

Aesop’s Fable Source:

This expression is taken straight from Aesop’s fable, The Dog in the Manger, c. 600 B.C.:

“A dog was lying in a manger full of hay. An ox, being hungry, came near and was going to eat of the hay. The dog, getting up and snarling at him, would not let him touch it.” “Surly creature,” said the Ox, “you cannot eat the hay yourself, and yet you will let no one else have any.”

It wasn’t until 1500, however, that the idiom came into general English use.

Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You

Meaning: To bite the hand that feeds you is to attack, harm, show ingratitude toward, or otherwise turn against someone who is helping you.

Example: “I cannot stand this client, said Ed, I’m going to tell him to stop being such a pain!” “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” said Chris.

Aesop’s Fable Source: This idiom was used as early as 600 B.c. as by the Greek poet Sappho. Its earliest known recorded use in English is 1711 by writer Joseph Addison. The expression draws on the metaphor of a dog biting its master.

The idiom is illustrated in one of Aesop’s Fables, The Gardener and his Dog:

“A gardener’s dog, frisking about the brink of a well in the garden, happened to fall in. The gardener very readily ran to his assistance, but as he was trying to help him out, the cur bit him by the hand. The man, annoyed at what he considered such ungrateful behavior towards one whose only aim was to save his life, came away the left the dog to drown.”

Sour Grapes

Meaning: Sour grapes means to disparage something that one wants but cannot have by pretending that it was never desirable at all; to pretend to despise something because you are unable to attain it.

Example: “The actor talked about how the Oscars were a pointless popularity contest that undermined the art of film. It was clearly a case of sour grapes from someone who didn’t win.”

Aesop’s Fable Source:

origin of the idiom sour grapes is the Aesop’s Fable, The Fox and the Grapes:

“A hungry fox saw some fine bunches of grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air. But, it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach. So he gave up trying, and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, “I thought those grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour.”