Proverb: Don't dig a hole. What does the expression “don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself” mean? Analogues of the proverb “don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself”

Marina SEROVA

DON'T DIG A HOLE FOR OTHERS

The room was dark. Only the personal computer monitor was glowing, dimly illuminating the face of the person working on it. In this flickering bluish light it looked strange and creepy. It was as if not a person, but a ghost, was intently knocking on the keys in the silence of the night. He looked to be between twenty-two and twenty-four years old. The soft features of the face retained something childish in themselves, and the round glasses with thick lenses only complemented the type of a large child who, slightly stooped, sat in front of the computer screen.

Well, let’s hurry up,” his irritated voice broke the silence. - I want to sleep, but you, fool, keep hanging and hanging!

These words, of course, referred to the computer, which all male programmers, due to some of their professional psychological characteristics, consider a woman. A moving picture had been hanging on the monitor screen for ten minutes, depicting a small globe from which pieces of paper were flying into an equally small folder. This meant that information was currently being received from the Internet.

Come on, come on! - the owner of the computer, whose name was Nikolai, fidgeted impatiently in his chair.

At this time, someone nervously knocked on the closed door.

Kolya! I need a phone! Stop entertaining him with your Internet! Again the bill will come crazy!

Now, Olga Vasilievna! Only five minutes! By the way, my communication sessions do not affect your telephone bills in any way! I've already told you this many times! And for the Internet I pay everything separately, to the company that connects me!..

The owner of the apartment was annoyed by all these technical innovations of her tenant. She systematically tried to eliminate the infection from her home, citing large telephone bills, which in fact did not relate to the work of Kolya’s computer, but to her own long conversations with her daughter in Baku.

Lenochka, that was the name of Olga Vasilievna’s daughter, several years ago married a handsome Azerbaijani man who sold butter at the Tarasovsky covered market. When her husband Albai realized that in order to live well in Tarasovo, one had to work hard and honestly, he decided to repatriate to his historical homeland. And poor Lenochka had to, gritting her teeth, go to live with him in “Caspian Kuwait.” Almost every day, my mother called her daughter, who had flown into nowhere, in order to hear from her another portion of terrible stories about the antics of her son-in-law. And every time she was about to call, instead of the usual long dial tone, some kind of frantic noise was heard in the receiver - it was Colin’s computer diligently exchanging information with the World Wide Web.

And now Kolya was receiving emails from his mailbox in one of the free Internet mail systems. However, the connection that evening was poor, and the reception of a relatively small amount of information took a long time. Moreover, it was difficult to say who was more irritated by this circumstance - Olga Vasilievna or Kolya himself. But finally a beep sounded, confirming the end of the reception. The young man, sighing with relief, pressed the “Disconnect” button, freeing up the much-coveted telephone line for his impatient mistress. Now you could calmly read the mail you received.

But, opening the list of incoming correspondence, Nikolai was disappointed - the long-awaited letter from a friend from Germany never arrived. Either Martin lost his address, or there was simply no time to write - but there was no letter from Munich. Instead, the folder contained about twenty stupid advertising messages. For example, some idiot once again for some reason offered to buy Kolya scales for weighing cars. They also suggested organizing a personal node on the network in order to more effectively promote your product to the market. And all the other letters contained something similar.

The latter generally stated: “It’s time to do your job. As we agreed, the fee will be transferred to the account that you indicate in the response to this letter. If you do not answer, we will assume that there was no deal."

What kind of nonsense is this? - Kolya muttered in surprise.

He read the message again, but still didn’t understand anything.

What job? What is the fee? The devil knows! Oh, so this is not my message! Wow? Does this happen? - He was completely sincerely surprised, because the addressee column did not contain his identifier.

Here they give! This is the first time I've seen this! So that the “soap” gets to the wrong address!

It should be noted here that computer scientists call “soap” messages that come by email.

Maybe we can answer for fun? - Nikolai turned to his computer. - Let's try, maybe we'll get lucky? Where is my unfortunate account?

Nikolai took a notebook from the table, rummaged through it and, having found the necessary information, pressed the “Reply” button.

What could you write to make people believe you? - he said thoughtfully, looking at the original message on the screen.

His fingers quickly ran across the keyboard, typing out the following:

“The deal remains valid. The work will be completed after the deposit is transferred to...”, and then Nikolai entered his account number at a local bank, which he took from his notebook.

Well, come on, get it! - With these words, Kolya pressed the “Send mail” button, after which a picture appeared on the monitor again, on which a globe was spinning, now accepting leaves from a small folder. This meant that mail was transmitted to the network.

Nikolai had no idea that along with this globe such serious mechanisms had begun to spin and begin to gain momentum, the operation of which until recently he had only learned about from television crime reports.

The Rhino nightclub did not suffer from an excessive influx of visitors that evening. Representative waiters slowly moved between the few occupied tables, delivering orders to the regulars taking a break from their righteous and not-so-righteous labors. The latter were absorbed in a kind of erotic dance performed on stage. Several half-naked girls, accompanied by cosmic music, portrayed either lesbian love or something like that on stage. Their flexible bodies, covered with sparkles, shimmered seductively in the rays of laser illumination, in their passionate interweaving, forming constantly changing bizarre plastic figures.

However, this bright, exciting spectacle did not at all attract the attention of the corpulent, balding man sitting gloomily at a separate table in the back of the hall. No, the chairman of the board of the Konus commercial bank, Alexander Vasilyevich Mishin, was not an ascetic, moreover, in other, better times, all these dancers would have been in Mishin’s huge bed in his personal apartments, which he kept in the Rhinoceros specifically for meetings with with such beauties, and sometimes with charmers.

Don't dig holes for others, you yourself will fall in. Wed. He who worked to dig a hole for others fell into it himself, so the scripture says. M. Yu. Lermontov. Epitaph. To the drowned player. Wed. So schadet meist der böse Rat Dem selbst, der ihn gegeben hat, Denn wer… …

Don’t dig holes for others, you’ll fall in there yourself- Wed. He who labored to dig a hole for others fell into it himself, the Scripture says. M.Yu. Lermontov. Epitaph. To the drowned player. Wed. So schadet meist der böse Rat Dem selbst, der ihn gegeben hat, Denn wer einem andern Fallstricke legt, Sich selbst… … Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

Repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater (Moscow) from 1825 to 1900

Repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater (Moscow)- This article provides an incomplete list of the repertoire of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. It must be taken into account that at first the troupe of the Maly (Maly Theater opened on October 14, 1824) and Bolshoi Theaters (Bolshoi Theater opened a little later than the Maly ... Wikipedia

Retribution- this is a life principle according to which evil is paid with evil, and good with good. Retribution is understood as retribution, punishment, retribution for a crime, evil, violation of the moral foundations of life. Retribution is a kind of compensation, return, giving back... Fundamentals of spiritual culture (teacher's encyclopedic dictionary)

Babylonian-Assyrian literature- BABYLON ASSYRIAN LITERATURE, preserved to this day in a huge number of the most diverse works, reveals to us various aspects of the economic, social and everyday life of the peoples who inhabited Mesopotamia in the first... ... Literary encyclopedia

PIT- PIT, pits, women. 1. A depression dug or formed in the ground. “A deep hole was dug with a spade.” I.Nikitin. Potato pit (for storing potatoes). Coal pit (for burning charcoal). Garbage pit. Cesspool. 2. Specially... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

pit- Dig a hole (to whom) transfer. cook for someone nuisance, seek to cause harm. Don’t dig holes for others, you will fall into them yourself. Proverb... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language

DON'T PICK IN THE COMPOTE - THE TOMATOES WILL SOUR- Don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself... Language of Odessa. Words and phrases

Drown (someone)- Drown (someone) foreigner. enter into loss (in cards); to devastate, destroy, destroy (as if immersing in water). Wed. Please don’t be sorry (that I didn’t learn the legal profession)! And what kind of good is possible? Rescue one, drown another... Leskov. Laughter and... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

PIT- female or yamina, yamurina and yamovina, hole, dimple, yaminka; yamishka; yamischa; depression, vlumina, hole, failure, pothole, any depression, opposite. hump, bump, tubercle, etc. Holes in the floor are well maintained. The silverware is all beaten up and full of holes. Eye pits... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Books

• Crocodile Tears, Laiglesia H. Readers will find in the book two fairy tales by the Spanish writer Juan Antonio Laiglesia. The heroes of the first fairy tale “Half a kilogram of sugar” are Jerome the Dwarf and Beaver. The little beaver always comes to the thrifty... Buy for 356 rubles
• Crocodile Tears, Juan Antonio Laiglesia. Readers will find in the book two fairy tales by the Spanish writer Juan Antonio Laiglesia. The heroes of the first fairy tale "Half a kilogram of sugar" are Dwarf Jerome and Little Beaver. The little beaver comes to the thrifty one all the time...

0 People are essentially envious and petty creatures. We desperately don’t like it when our neighbor suddenly goes on vacation to tropical islands or buys an expensive business class car. Irritation and anger ooze from all our pores, but we understand that nothing can be done about it, and we can only bare our teeth like a mangy dog. However, some citizens go further and begin to actively intrigue those people who have displeased them in some way, write denunciations, cause accidents, or simply come up and hit them in the face, sometimes kicking them. However, our ancestors also understood that we should not wish harm on others, because it could come back to haunt us. Therefore, another catchphrase was born, which means you can find out a little below. Add our resource site to your bookmarks to always have access to fresh and new information.
However, before I continue, I would like to point out to you a couple of our interesting publications on the topic of popular sayings and phraseological units. For example, what does it mean: Every sandpiper praises his swamp; how to understand Dot the I's; meaning of the expression If the stars light up, it means someone needs it; which means What we have we do not keep, we cry when we lose it, etc.
So, let's continue, Don't dig a hole for someone else, you'll fall into it yourself, meaning?

Don't dig a hole for someone else, you'll fall into it yourself- means that you shouldn’t intrigue someone else, since it could backfire on you yourself

The more you play, the more you'll hurt yourself.

Don't spit in the well, you'll need to drink the water.

By untruth you will pass through the world, but you will not return back.

This proverb was recorded in " Proverbs of the Russian people"Dal. True, in his work it sounds a little different: “Whoever digs a hole for another will fall into it himself.” In fact, this idea is inherent in different peoples of the world, and it can be heard in many other languages. For example, in English, Bulgarian, Polish, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, Belarusian, etc. Therefore, it is simply necessary for any intelligent person to know about the origin of this catchphrase.

Indeed, this statement was first mentioned in the most widely read book on Earth, the Bible. It can be found repeatedly on the pages of the Old Testament. In the book of Proverbs of Solomon one can find the following sentence: " Whoever rolls a stone uphill will return to it; whoever digs a hole for someone else may fall into it.".
In another chapter of this great book you can read: " Anyone who advises the righteous to take the path of evil will himself end up in a pit, and the innocent will inherit kindness".

Such phraseology emphasized, in a simple and accessible form, wisdom that was useful and applicable in various life situations. Most likely, this phrase was used among these people long before it appeared on the pages " Proverbs of Solomon".
If we open " Book of Ecclesiastes", then we can read another clever thought, which represents the behavior of a fool and a wise man: " Whoever destroys a fence will be bitten by a snake, and whoever digs a hole will fall into it himself". This statement can be interpreted that someone who is plotting unkind and evil actions against another person can easily and simply harm himself, without even noticing how it all turned out.

In general, in our world everything is interconnected, and when trying to set up intrigues for others, you yourself can easily end up in a situation that you carefully prepared for someone else. Our ancestors believed that any evil returns as a boomerang, that is, if you do something bad, it will definitely come back to you.

Summarizing the above, it can be noted that the above saying reflects many years of popular observations associated with the strong desire of some citizens to harm their neighbor. Usually, such plans resulted in the villain himself falling into the traps set for the other.
This phraseological unit, as it were, warns all individuals that they will definitely experience on their own skin everything that the people for whom he prepared his " present".

After reading this simple article, you learned what it means Don't dig a hole for someone else, you'll fall into it yourself, and now you can explain its hidden meaning to your friends and acquaintances.

Fell into a hole

Don’t dig a hole for someone else, you will fall into it yourself - evil always returns to the one who sowed it. Controversial statement; an observation that is only partially true. There are many examples when evil flourishes, and good is punished, and anyone who did not dig it ends up in a hole.

Naked Truth swore, swore and sobbed,
She was sick for a long time, wandered, and needed money.
Dirty Lies stole a thoroughbred horse
And galloped away on long and thin legs
(V. Vysotsky “The Ballad of Truth and Lies”)

Russian folk wisdom echoes the Old Testament: “Whoever digs a hole will fall into it, and whoever destroys a fence will be bitten by a serpent.” (Ecclesiastes 10:8)

Analogues of the proverb “don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself”

• No matter how you bury it, God will confuse you and give you away
• Don't spit in the well, you'll need to drink the water
• The army stands before the world, lies before the truth
• You will pass through the world by untruth, but you will not turn back
• Whatever you seek for someone, you will find it for yourself
• He who chopped it up, he eats it
• The more you play, the more you'll hurt yourself
• Not all are like the wolf, some are like the wolf too

The use of sayings in literature

— Can a truly artistic work be based on such an everyday rule: “Don’t deceive, so as not to be deceived,” or, or even closer to our comedy, “Don’t deceive, because deception is not always successful”

(N. Dobrolyubov “Dark Kingdom”)

— As a result, he lost all his property and now found himself in a very awkward position. As they say, Gurov sighed and continued: However, the most interesting thing began when I parted with the gallant captain(N. Leonov, A. Makeev “Grandmaster of Detective”)

Don't dig a hole for someone else, you'll fall into it yourself- Russian proverb meaning: You should not prepare trouble for anyone. You may find yourself in the same situation.

Don't dig a hole under people, you'll fall in yourself

Don't dig holes for your friend, you'll fall in there yourself

The proverb is listed in the Big Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (1904):

Don't dig holes for others, you'll fall in there yourself

The source of this proverb is the Bible. The book of Ecclesiastes (chapter 10, p. 8) says “Whoever digs a hole will fall into it, and whoever breaks down a fence will be bitten by a serpent.”

In English:

In English there is a proverb that is close in meaning - stew in one's own juice. If it is translated literally, it will be "stew in one's own juice", but the meaning is not like in Russian - to suffer from the consequences of one's own actions. The expression is indicated in American American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer, 1992, which notes that the very idea of ​​the expression has been found since Chaucer in the form of fry in one's own grease. The current expression entered the English language in the second half of the 19th century.

Phrases with similar meaning:

Evil befalls the one who does it (Arabic proverb, Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (1904) to “Don’t dig holes for others, you yourself will fall”)

Examples

Basovskaya Natalya Ivanovna (b. 1941)

“All the heroes of world history” (2018), chapter “Constantine I the Great. Power and Faith” about the battle of Constantine and Maxentius:

“Maxentius ordered the construction of another one next to the Milvian Bridge - a trap, a deceptive bridge, which could be opened at any moment. The idea was to lure Constantine’s army there and make it fall into the river.

The history of this battle perfectly illustrates the Russian proverb “ Don't dig a hole for someone else - you'll fall into it yourself" In the battle, Constantine's troops, although smaller in number, turned out to be stronger. Maxentius's army and he himself fled across the deceptive bridge. And it, built hastily, collapsed on its own, without activating a special mechanism."

(1823 - 1886)

“Your own dogs are biting, don’t bother someone else’s,” the young man Ustrashimov says about his rival and colleague Balzaminov:

"You dig a hole for your neighbor, maybe you'll end up there yourself".

(1814 - 1841)

"Epitaph. To a drowned player":

Who worked to dig a hole for others,

He fell into it himself, the Scripture says so.